november 6, 2011 no .. at grandparents' former 12th Street farmhouse By JESUS LOPEZ JR. Standard-Examiner staff jlopez@standard.net MARRIOTT- SLATERVILLE — Over the past few months, an old blue farm house on 12th Street not far from the freeway, took on a new look with white siding and red trim. The color scheme symbolizes the 63-year-old home's new life — from farm to insurance firm. The home at 1294 W. 12th St., has been in Plain City resident Jay Carnahan's family for six decades. On Tuesday, Carnahan reopened the doors as a new State Farm agency after more than a year of renovation. Leon Carnahan, Jay's grandfather, built the house in 1948. There was a lot of work to convert the old farm house into a modern office. Carnahan put in new wiring, ripped out old carpets to expose some of the original hardwood flooring and installed a new entrance. He converted bedrooms into offices and a playroom for clients' children. He kept the property surrounding the retrofitted office. He plans to paint the old barn red and white and have a State Farm logo on the roof. He plans to keep a variety of chickens and miniature goats to literally bring out the farm in State Farm. The rest of the space will be used for parking and other events. There is a lot of Carnahan family history in the house. Soon after getting married, Leon shipped off to fight in Europe during World War II. During that time, Lucille Carnahan lived with her parents and saved the money her husband sent home. In 1945, the couple bought an acre of land in what is now Marriott- Slaterville. For three years, the Carnahans used the land to farm potatoes, saving money to build the house. With the house up, Leon turned his attention to raising horses for barrel and track racing, as well as training riders. Jay Carnahan's father and aunts learned to ride on the land and, when the time came, Leon taught Jay how to ride. In addition to riding, KERA WILLIAMS/Standard-Examiner Jay Scott Carnahan keeps family tradition alive at his State Farm office (above), 294 W. 12th St., Marriott-Slaterville. The former house was his grandparents! Left, Carnahan holds a picture of his grandfather, Leon Carnahan, in his office that was once his grandparents' bedroom. Below left, Kiersten Voorhees, Carnahan, and Brandon Gutierrez stand in the main entrance room to the office. his grandfather taught him how to hit a baseball and swing a golf club. Because he went to school nearby as a kid, Jay would pretend to be sick so his grandmother would pick him up and take care of him. He bought the property in 2008 from his father and aunts. "I put renters in here until I figured out what to do with it," he said. Before entering the insurance business, he owned a parking lot striping business, All Star Striping LLC. "When I sold that, I didn't know what to do," Carnahan said, "I didn't know what small venture to get into." After working for someone else, he had the urge to run his own business again. "I never felt like I was doing what I was built to do," Jay said. He considered opening a carwash, going as far as ripping out the three back rooms of the house. Instead, Carnahan decided to get into insurance. "The economy has made me kind of re-invent myself," he said. "It just wasn't the right time for it and this State Farm thing was," He said he likes State Farm's business model and the services it offers. "It just turned out to be a tremendous opportunity to keep small business alive in Ogden," Jay said. "I just think it's a real success when small businesses are cutting down and closing shop, I'm opening up." For information, call 801- 364-2266. o < CD 3 cr a> -5 CTl r\3 CD