Now you can spend a night behind bars — in comfort

Ephraim, Utah, began as a military fort long before it became best known as the home of Snow College.

When homesteads were founded, and cities were built, certain buildings were given top priority to build. When Fort Ephraim became Ephraim City in 1854, five buildings took precedence:

• City hall.

• United Order Co-op.

• Relief Society Granary.

• Tabernacle.

• Jailhouse.

Few original stone jails that once housed infamous American outlaws of the Wild West remain intact now. But one such structure can be found in Ephraim.

Made from Oolite limestone, a distinctive cream-colored stone extracted from quarries located east of Ephraim and Manti, Utah, the Ephraim jail was built with the same stones used in the construction of the Manti Temple.

While the pioneer-era temple still fulfills its original purpose, the jailhouse has taken on a new type of inmate.

“Today, you can sleep in one cell and bathe in the other,” Ryan Roos, a historian and rare book and document specialist, told the Deseret News. “The main jail area now has a card table for poker games. These are all directly beneath the original city hall (and) a spiral staircase connects the floors.”

In 2022, Ryan and his wife Rachel Roos opened the jail doors for business as an Airbnb.

Jail turned Airbnb

While working as the historical building’s caretaker for many years, Rachel Roos grew to appreciate just how rare the property truly was. In 2019, when the prior owner decided to sell the jail, Roos found herself showing the historical building to many property developers looking to tear it down and build student housing in its place.

“We knew that if we didn’t buy it, it would be gone,” Ryan Roos said. “And as a historian, the idea of having a standing stone or Wild West jail is unheard of; they simply don’t exist anymore.”

And “without an advocate, they become prey to development,” he added.

The jail served its original purpose until the turn of the century and remained vacant until the 1960s when Snow College turned it into living quarters for a professor. After the professor’s passing, Roos said the jail again fell into decay.

In what might have been a blessing in disguise for the old jail, the COVID-19 pandemic paused the selling process indefinitely. During that time, Rachel’s brother, Russell Wilkins, and his wife, Connally, were visiting from Peru and were forced to stay in the United States while international travel was shut down.

They took shelter in the jail.

While staying in the jail, Rachel Roos said her brother and his family fell in love with the property. “They were like, ‘This has to get done. We have to restore the jail and turn it into a rental or an Airbnb or something, because it’s so awesome. People have to enjoy it,’” she said.

So together, with their different talents and combined funds, the two couples restored the jail in two years.

Making old things new

Through blood, sweat, tears and, literally, broken bones — Rachel broke her foot during the process — the new owners wanted to ensure that the jail kept its historic personality while also modernizing it.

“The original interior jail walls were exposed, re-mortared and restored. The jail cells we restored to their original heights. The flooring was restored. The building’s original layout, where possible, was brought back to its former state. The jailhouse portion was restored with literal attention to every single brick,” Roos explained.

He emphasized that the community’s support has added to the project’s satisfaction. “Everyone has a connection to this building. That just stood in the heart of the town,” he said. “Everyone seems to have a story from their family history about an ancestor locked up in the jail.”

The locals aren’t the only ones attracted to the unique Airbnb. People have visited from all around the country, and Roos said they have even had inquiries from people internationally.

For many Utahns it’s a fun staycation idea. “We’re getting a lot of a lot of repeat business. And a lot of these people, you’ll see people from Utah County, or Salt Lake County, they just want to escape.”

“The popularity of such shows such as ‘Longmire,’ ‘Deadwood’ and ‘Yellowstone’ demonstrate that the western tension between civility and freedom holds tremendous modern-day allure,” Roos explained. “Nothing represents that tension more than an old West jailhouse.”

As the Roos look ahead, they hope to save more historical sites in the West from being torn down for modern development.

“To preserve this experience for generations to come was one of the greatest honors of our lives,” he added.