Cordner Pioneer Home

Address: 440 South State Street
This Victorian Eclectic-style house was constructed in 1898 by William Cordner. The Cordners were one of the first to settle on the Provo Bench and, according to some written accounts, were the first homesteaders to reside on the Provo Bench through an entire winter, in 1877. William, his wife Edna, and their family were heavily involved in the fruit-growing industry, the mainstay of the Provo Bench during most of the century. At that time, State Street was lined with the farms and orchards of a prospering farming community.

The house symbolizes the prosperity of the Cordners' fruit growing industry during the agricultural expansion era of the Provo Bench.

This is depicted in the Victorian architecture of the house with its asymmetrical form, a major contrast to the earlier, austere classical-type houses which were very symmetrical and unadorned. Victorian-type houses were popular in Utah from 1885 to 1915, and the Cordner house represents the stylistic changes that were occurring in Utah at the turn of the century.

After Edna's death in 1942, the house was old. It remained a home for other residents of the area for six more years but has been used for various commercial uses since then. It presently houses a flower shop/nursery, Thru the Grapevine.

This building has been placed on the National Register of Historic Sites.

(Orem Historic Homes and Sites of Interest.  Orem, UT: Historic Preservation Advisory Commission, 2009.) Used with permission.