Polygamous leader's compound now a cozy bed and breakfast
Are you looking for a relaxing place to stay in Hildale, Utah, with enough room for you and your 20 wives? Then you're in luck: the compound built for polygamous leader Warren Jeffs has been turned into America's Most Wanted Suites and Bed & Breakfast.
Now serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting a young girl he considered his bride, Jeffs ordered his followers in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) to build the compound for him in 2011. Jeffs never actually lived there, and it was purchased at auction for $3.6 million by former bodyguard and FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop. Jessop, who bought the property after he won a lawsuit against FLDS church leaders, kept many original features, including a 12-foot concrete fence, intact.
"I left it there so people could go and see how paranoid he was," Jessop told NBC News. "It was my hope that the walls would help as a reminder to the community that if you need walls like this, you're probably doing something wrong."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The inn is near Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and the Grand Canyon, and boasts 14 rooms with smart TVs and wi-fi. Rooms run from $85 for a standard room to $200 for a king suite. Jessop's goal is to attract "people of all walks of life who'd like to come to the community and feel welcome," he said. "[It's] something that could be positive instead of sinister."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
'Elevating Earth Day into a national holiday is not radical — it's practical'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
UAW scores historic win in South at VW plant
Speed Read Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have voted to join the United Auto Workers union
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 22, 2024
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - dystopian laughs, WNBA salaries, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published