Nearly 140 years ago, a group of students attended the first school built in Park City, Utah.
The school, built in 1889 during the city's mining boom, predated Utah becoming a state, which happened in 1896. Over the years, this hand-carved limestone building evolved from schoolhouse to dance hall to city landmark, eventually becoming a bed and breakfast called Washington School House Hotel.
Today, it's on the market as a single-family home with a price tag of $25 million.
The structure has stood the test of time — and disaster. Park City's commercial district experienced a major fire in 1898 that destroyed about 200 businesses, homes and other structures. But this building survived, in part due to its limestone exterior.
"It's kind of been through it all," listing agent Gretchen Hudgens of Windermere Real Estate Co. told Homes.com.
Located at 543 Park Avenue, the 11,780-square-foot building features 12 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, a heated year-round swimming pool and views of nearby ski resorts, trees and mountains.
"The interior is a beautiful mix of mountain contemporary and antique," Hudgens said. "Each piece of the interior has been very thoughtfully curated to just create a really special location."
Schoolhouse origins before hotel overhaul
According to the Washington School House Hotel's website, the former school saw its enrollment plummet in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929, and the property was sold in 1936 to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The building took on its next form as a social gathering center before it was reimagined into The Washington School Inn, a bed and breakfast.
New ownership took over in 2009 and embarked on a major renovation with a slight rebranding of the name: Washington School House Hotel. It reopened in late 2011.
The building is a short walk away from the Treasure Hill Trailhead and close to the Payday Express Lift that takes guests up the slopes.
Park City is located about 30 miles to the east of Salt Lake City and is known for its ski resorts and outdoor recreation. That status contributed to Salt Lake City's successful bid to host the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Park City Mountain Resort will play a starring role in those games, playing host to men’s and women’s snowboarding halfpipe, snowboarding slopestyle, freestyle skiing halfpipe and freestyle skiing slopestyle, according to the resort's website.
Now, a potential single-family estate
Hudgens said the hotel's owners purchased the building with the intention of it being a single-family home, but ultimately decided the best use was for it to continue to serve as a hotel.
"[The owners] joked that they became accidental hoteliers as they realized it was just too special not to share," Hudgens said.
According to the Homes.com listing, the property originally hit the market last August for $31 million, but the recent price drop to $25 million has helped drum up more interest among prospective buyers.
Top properties in Park City have commanded prices as high as $65 million over the past 12 months. The city's priciest sale of 2025 occurred in May when a 23,000-square-foot estate sold for a whopping $50 million.
Washington School House Hotel's next iteration — whether as a home, hotel or other use — depends on the new owner's vision.
"It could go either way," Hudgens said. "We have people that are interested both to continue it operationally, as it is ... but there are also just as many who are looking at it thinking that it would be a remarkable single-family home."