OGDEN, Utah — Larry Carr, 86, has lived in Ogden his whole life but hardly visited the residential neighborhood East Bench. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that he found his forever home in the area inside a historic fire station.
“The reason I discovered it [The Firehouse] was for sale was because I was taking trombone lessons from a gentleman who lived up the street [from the house]. “I drove past the fire station on the way to my lesson.”
Ogden Fire Station No. 2, also known as the Bench Fire Station, now Larry’s home, was built in 1928.
“I bought it in 2002 and I've been here ever since," Carr said. "I plan on leaving feet first out the door.”
The one-story Jacobean Revival building was constructed to blend in with the East Bench Neighborhood of Ogden, where residential development was accelerating in the early 1900s.
It was used on and off as a fire station until 1968. By the early 1960s, Ogden was growing rapidly, and the East Bench fire station was no longer needed as bigger and more modern fire stations were constructed around the city.
“In 1968 the city sold the building, and it was used as a rental,” Carr added.
The house can’t be missed on 25th street in Ogden, especially with its striking red garage door. Carr, an Ogden Native, and his son, Barry Carr, gave me a tour of the historic building.
According to Larry Carr, the fire station was built for a small staff, which explains why many of the rooms and living spaces are small.
“I have people knocking on the door all the time asking, ‘Was this a fire station?’ And I always tell people I make my bed every day because I never can tell if I'm going to be bringing people through,” Carr said.
As Larry toured me through his home, all I could think of was that, although the house was fascinating, its owner was even more so. Carr was a professional photographer who owned his own photo shop in Ogden. He was an avid cyclist. Carr was an award-winning skier. He also worked in the automotive industry for many years.
“You’ve barely scratched the surface about him,” Barry said, responding to my awe of his dad’s passions and hobbies.
Carr also turned the furnace room into his dark room.
“I think people do like a sense of nostalgia. They like the fact that it was a firehouse," Barry explained. "They want to know about it. I'm constantly getting asked questions, and I'm constantly telling everybody that my old man lives in the coolest house in Ogden.
Somehow, this firehouse and its owner are a match made in heaven.
“I will be remembered variously for very different things,” Carr said. “But I think I’ll always be introduced as ‘Oh, you're the guy that owns the firehouse,’ ‘The Guy that lives in the firehouse,’ not as an individual who did this or acquired this or anything else. I'm the guy that lives in the firehouse.”
Lastly, I just wanted to note that it's only fitting for a man who lives in an old fire station to own a red truck.
"I live in a firehouse," Carr said. "That dictates the color of the vehicle."
