Weston House

The Weston house was built in 1936 for Harry and Stella V. Weston, the daughter and son-in-law of Roy and Genevieve Van Vleck. The Van Vlecks were a close family, and Stella’s sister Jean was given land for her own house to the east (now present site of the Jackson Hole Historical Society & Museum). Harry Weston eventually purchased the Mercantile from his father-in-law Roy Van Vleck and the Westons were involved in several community organizations. They lived here until 1983, when it was then renovated into a commercial space. It is currently owned by the Healthy Being Café and Juicery.

In 1934 Estella “Stella” Van Vleck married Harry Weston. Stella had grown up in the Van Vleck house with her parents Genevieve and Roy Van Vleck, and sister Jean. The Van Vleck family was one of Jackson’s most important pioneer families. Roy served on multiple community boards, and helped found several public service organizations. Genevieve was elected to an all-female town council in 1920 and the women organized and cleaned up the town. 

Harry and Stella were likewise equally involved. Harry was a volunteer firefighter, a Town Council member, and a member of the Rotary, Elks and Shriners organizations. His father-in-law Roy had been instrumental in the creation of the Rotary. Harry was also interested in conservation and was actively involved in the Grand Teton National Park Natural History Association for 52 years. Stella was named after one of Genevieve’s sisters, and took after her town councilor mother in her civic passions. She helped to form the first Girl Scouts troop, and was active on the school board, and founding member of the Teton County Library Board. She also worked as a volunteer nurse at St. John’s Hospital. Their three children were named with the family legacy in mind: Roy, Genevieve, and Harriet.

Upon the marriage of their daughter, the Van Vlecks gave the new couple permission to build a house on their land, just east of the Van Vleck house. The land was formally transferred by a deed in 1937 after Genevieve’s early death in 1936. However, it’s likely that the house wasn’t built until 1936. The Van Vleck family appeared to be close, because Roy Van Vleck sold off two other portions of this block of land to his nephew and other daughter.  Land on the west of his house was sold to nephew Clinton Van Vleck in 1941, and a piece of land to the east of Stella’s went to his other daughter Jean in 1948. Previously just the Van Vleck house and barn (on the north) was located on this block. The Stewart house is no longer extant, it was moved to Star Valley, WY, and the Clinton Van Vleck house remains (currently Belle Cose) with significant changes to the exterior.

This type of subdivision into a 4-lot block is typical of Jackson in the 1940s as the town began to fill in and change from rural/agricultural to a modern townsite. Each of the buildings shared a similar setback, and large trees helped delineate the lots. This was disrupted slightly in the 1980s when the Van Vleck house was moved onto a new foundation slightly south and west from its original location. This brought the house closer to the street than the others. In 1957 E Deloney (then Second Street) was constructed, and the block became permanently framed in between E Deloney on the north, Bruun Boulevard on the east, and E Broadway on the south. Just east of Bruun Boulevard was another parcel that Roy had sold previously in 1916 to Robert and Grace Miller. 

After Roy’s death in 1960, the Westons continued to live in their house until 1983. The Van Vleck house had experienced a succession of owners in the preceding years, and in 1979 a restaurant opened in the old family home. A few years later, the Westons sold their house to Ridge Creek Investments, which owned the Van Vleck house on the west. Ridge Creek Investments was owned by former mayor Abi Garaman, who was responsible for a few early historic preservation projects in town. Garaman believed in preserving the older buildings, which were quickly disappearing with new developments. Garaman eventually acquired the most of the block, with the exception of Jean Van Vleck Stewart’s house on the eastern end. The Stewarts eventually sold their property in 2007, and it became part of the unified now-commercial block in 2013. For the first time since Roy Van Vleck first purchased the land to build his cabin in 1910, and sold a piece to the Millers in 1916, the entire block was now under single ownership a century later.

Garaman renovated the house into a commercial space and leased it to several businesses. The current occupants, the Healthy Being Café & Juicery have operated in the space since 2013. In 2020, they were able to purchase the building and land with help from a community-wide campaign to “Save the Block.” The entire commercial block went up for sale, and the community feared the loss of these important historic buildings, and mostly open green land between them. An anonymous donor purchased the lot, and placed conservation and preservation easements on the lots. Conservation easements held by the Jackson Hole Land Trust helped preserve the open space, and the façade easements held by the Teton Trust for Historic Places ensure the architecture will be maintained.

Engle, Betsy. "Weston House," Form prepared for the Teton County Historic Preservation Board, 2018.

"Henry and Estella Weston House," National Register Nomination. NPS, 2023.

Hagen, Delia. Teton County Residential Properties Multiple Property Documentation Form. 2019.