Four gingham dresses hung in the closet for the guests who arrived to spend a week sequestered in the luxury of the McCune Mansion. Elizabeth McCune hosted a 1917 retreat within the walls of her Main Street home, a retreat to explore friendship and food with friends uninterrupted by children or husbands.
McCune's closest friends, Susa Young Gates, Augusta W. Grant, Alice K. Smith and Ann D. Groesbeck, accepted the invitation and hospitality.Gates' notes on the event described meals with "real strawberries, lamb, veal and Spanish omelets," while "buttermilk on ice and loaves of raisin and bran bread" were added to the week's menus.
The seclusion was interrupted only by a July Fourth picnic for the husbands, but the menfolk were quickly chauffeured home and the female retreat continued.
An unidentified guest noted in verse:
This is the palace that Elizabeth built.
These are the women that Elizabeth asked
To spend a week in the palace that she built.
These are the dresses, all striped and fine
That Elizabeth bought for the women that time
To wear in the house that she built.
The McCune family displayed generous gestures of hospitality in the turn-of-the-century structure at 200 N. Main in Salt Lake City. The prominent family hosted national and church dignitaries as well as provided a setting for the first Mormon "Gold and Green Ball" and numerous other social events.
Though the house has long been recognized for unique design and interior features, McCune insisted on "simplicity" as a binding principle of construction.
S.C. Dallas, the mansion architect who studied abroad for two years in preparation for the building project, explained McCune's philosophy: "Simplicity must be the keynote of the whole design; comfort and convenience must not be sacrificed, while vast display, extravagant pretensions, stately or gorgeous effects were not to be tolerated."
McCune's stated intentions varied dramatically from the final results. The home was clearly the most ostentatious of the period, according to present mansion owner Brent Pack.
"The original 1900 construction cost around $500,000," Pack said, "but in 1992 dollars, that's an enormous sum. We've been told that the McCune is still the most expensive house ever built in the state."
Pack and his immediate family purchased the mansion in 1987 when the Hotel Utah closed its doors.
Chris Pack, Brent's son and the executive chef at the mansion, explained the family's purpose in making the sizeable investment.
"With the closure of the Hotel Utah, we saw an opportunity to pick up special-occasion bookings that formerly went down the street," Chris said. "My mother worked at the hotel and had an inside track, but we all recognized the business had to go someplace."
Someplace elegant like the McCune Mansion.
After a multipurpose history as the McCune School of Music, the BYU Continuing Education Center and a final function as private offices with occasional social functions, the mansion is now booked by the Packs for seasons full of business, community and social affairs.
Eight members of the Pack family work full time to maintain the mansion and its schedule. The Packs assume total responsibility for upkeep in the huge home, a challenge that includes oiling four floors of wood wall panels every other month.
"We also take on one major maintenance project a year," Chris explained. "This summer we restored and painted the exterior of the building. Everyone worked on the project, but four of us worked full time for eight weeks to complete it."
In addition to physical maintenance of the structure, the Packs supply catered menus for business and wedding luncheons, dinners and other social and community events.
"We absolutely love the building," said Brent. "It is such a treasure. It was built for entertaining, and we love to share the mansion with the community. Buying the mansion was the finest day in our lives."
If Elizabeth Claridge McCune were still alive, she'd applaud the Pack family's work. The prominent artisan left the home to the LDS Church in 1920 to "be used preferably for the women's building . . . or for such other purpose as may be deemed best."
The McCune Mansion continues the traditions of warmth and hospitality established by its original owners.
*****
(Recipes)
LOBSTER STUFFED TENDERLOIN
3 pounds dry aged tenderloin of beef
1 fresh lobster tail
1 cup shallots
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup dry white wine or beef stock
2 tablespoons lemon pepper
2 tablespoons salt
1/2 tablespoon marjoram
1 teaspoon white pepper
Butterfly cut the tenderloin lengthwise; set aside. Remove lobster tail from shell and cut lengthwise in fourths; lay lobster in center of tenderloin and roll. Tie at 1-inch intervals with cotton string to hold in place. Set in 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Mix oil, shallots, seasonings and pour over tenderloin; cover and bake at 325 degrees for about 60 minutes to desired doneness. Remove from oven, cut strings and slice 11/2-inches thick to serve. Makes 8 servings.
- Each serving contains 375 calories; 26 gm fat; 2108 mg sodium; 96 mg cholesterol.
LOBSTER AND FILET SAUCE
2 cups (8 oz.) Kasseri cheese
11/2 cups whipping cream
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
Over low heat, clarify butter; add cheese and cream until blended. Stir constantly, being careful not to scorch mixture. Remove from heat; add lemon and parsley. Serve with Lobster Stuffed Beef Tenderloin. Makes 8 servings.
- Each serving contains 257 calories; 26 gm fat; 333 mg sodium; 90 mg cholesterol.
CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE BOMBE
1 package (3 oz.) raspberry gelatin
1 cup hot water
2 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
1 package (10 oz.) Oreo cookies or about 20 cookies
1 chocolate cake mix
1 package chocolate or raspberry mousse mix
1 pound milk chocolate (Mercken brand)
Dissolve gelatin in hot water; set aside. Blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla; set aside. Beat gelatin mixture until it is slightly thicker than an egg white; fold into cream cheese. Beat whipped cream; gently add to cream cheese mixture.
Crush cookies into crumbs; press into bottom of an 8-inch springform pan. Pour cheesecake mixture over crust; chill one hour.
Prepare cake according to package directions; bake in well-greased and floured 8-inch bowl. Prepare mousse according to package directions.
To assemble, remove cheesecake from springform pan and place on serving plate. Frost with mousse, then top with cake round; chill to set. When bombe is set, cover with two coats of melted chocolate. Decorate with chocolate leaves, curls or edible gold leaf. Makes 16 servings.
- Each serving contains 641 calories; 36 gm fat; 579 mg sodium; 94 mg cholesterol.
TWICE-BAKED POTATOES
2 large russet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch onion powder
1 pinch garlic powder
1 teaspoon chervil
2 tablespoons cream
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chives
Bakes potatoes at 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until tender; cool 30 minutes. Cut in half lengthwise; hollow insides of potatoes and leave shell intact. Mix potato with butter, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, chervil and cream; beat until smooth. Blend in cheese and chives. Spoon or pipe ingredients into potato shell; bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven; sprinkle with additional cheese to serve. Makes 4 servings.
- Each serving contains 236 calories; 14 gm fat; 313 mg sodium; 39 mg cholesterol.