SALT LAKE CITY — There’s a hidden park in Salt Lake City that has wild peacocks, tiny homes—and there’s even a local lore that calls it “Hobbitville.”
It’s called Allen Park. But its story goes deeper than myth.
In 1931, Dr. George Allen and his wife, Ruth, transformed this stretch of land—nearly two city blocks along 1300 East and Emigration Creek—into a sanctuary for birds, people and creativity.
“The Allens came from the Midwest, and he was a physician here in Salt Lake City,” said Amy Reid, associate landscape architect and landscape historian with Salt Lake City Public Lands’ Planning and Design Division. “His wife, Ruth, was an artist, trained at the Art Institute of Chicago, and they were very active in their community.”
They built trails, nesting boxes, fountains—and relocated several homes from nearby mining communities in the 1940s to help fund their own sanctuary. Over time, students, artists and outsiders called it home.
The nickname “Hobbitville” came from the park’s tiny, overgrown cottages and winding paths—giving it a storybook feel that sparked urban legends for decades.
“This is the homestead of the Allens, Dr. George Allen and his wife, Ruth, and they raised their family here in Allen Park,” Reid said. “This was a refuge. They had over 700 birds here on the site—a lot of exotic birds—and he was instrumental in founding Hogle Zoo and Tracy Aviary.”
Some of the park’s standout features remain: towering trees, handmade mosaics by the Allens, and three wild peacocks still roaming the grounds. Supposedly, the peacocks are descendants of the original birds the Allens left behind.
Catherine Cates, a volunteer steward of the park, gives her time to care for the birds and their surroundings.
“They [the peacocks] don't really belong to anybody,” she said. “They're not domesticated. They're nobody's pet. But they just stay here, and we feed them and take care of them.”
According to Reid, after Dr. Allen passed away in the 1960s, the family struggled to maintain the property.
“It was very difficult to upkeep the property, and it was very expensive,” she said. “And so things slowly began declining.”
By 2019, the aging structures had become unsafe, forcing out the last remaining residents. With demolition looming and encroachment from development, a grassroots campaign rallied to save the park.
In 2020, Salt Lake City purchased the land from the remaining family for $7.5 million.
So what’s next?
Before breaking ground, the city created a full plan to guide restoration.
“Phase One does not include the buildings,” Reid said. “Phase One includes restoring that stormwater function of the creek. We're taking out a culvert and putting in a bridge. We’re going to be doing other efforts to enhance the floodplain. And then we’ll be taking out this entire road and installing some utilities, narrowing the road where we can—creating a really nice user experience through the park.”
The project is supported by funds from Salt Lake City’s 2022 $85 million general obligation park bond, approved by voters to improve the park, which includes Allen Park.
Reid said some of the aging buildings will eventually be taken down, but others are being preserved—with plans to possibly turn them into artist studios or creative spaces in the future.
Allen Park is open to the public daily and for long time visitors like Cates, she hopes it stays that way.
“This is a precious place,” Cates added. “It’s a place in the middle of the city where you can go to just get away from everything. I grew up with this in my backyard, and so it has a very special place in my heart. And I would like to see it preserved as much as possible.”
