Live Holladay listings, filtered
Homes with a basement in Holladay.
Holladay listings with a basement, fed straight from the MLS and sorted newest first, with a clear read on why full basements are the norm in this mid-century stock and how to tell a finished lower level from a canvas.
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Want it narrower? Tell me your exact spec.
Newest first
The newest basement listings.
Fed straight from the local MLS and filtered to Holladay homes with a basement: new listings appear here as they list, and sold homes drop off. The read on which kind of lower level you are actually looking at is just below.
Buying here
Focus on condition, not existence.
Nearly every original Holladay home was built with a full basement, so the useful comparison between listings is finish level, ceiling height, and how the space handles moisture, not whether one exists. Tell me what finish level you need and I will have the Holladay-area partner agent I work with walk the lower level with you before you write.
Selling here
Selling a Holladay home with a finished basement?
A dry, full-height lower level is exactly what buyers browsing this page are hunting for. List it with the Holladay-area partner agent I connect you with and put your home's basement in front of that search.
This is usually one of the deeper grids for the city rather than a thin one, because a full basement is the norm in this mid-century stock rather than the exception. The work here is not finding one, it is sorting the finished, dry, full-height lower levels from the low or damp ones. Tell me what you are after and I will have the Holladay-area agent I work with flag the next match the morning it lists.
Listing information comes from the local MLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
The local read
What a basement means in Holladay.
Start with the good news, which is that this search is not much of a hunt. In Holladay a basement is close to standard equipment. Much of the city is 1950s-through-1970s mid-century stock, and in that era, at this elevation, on this stretch of the Wasatch Front, the footings had to go below the deep valley frost line anyway. Once a builder is digging that deep, putting a basement under the house is the natural move. So the useful question in Holladay is rarely whether a home has a basement. It is which kind, and what condition it is in.
The city's geography sorts the answer for you. Out on the flatter valley floor toward the south and west, the common shape is a full basement below grade on all sides, leaning on egress windows for light and a safe way out. East of Highland Drive the land climbs the Mount Olympus foothill bench toward Wasatch Boulevard, and on those sloped bench lots the grade lets a lower level open to daylight, sometimes as a true walkout with full windows and a door to the yard. The mid-century heart of the city, the 1950s-through-1970s ramblers and split-levels on big lots across the Village core and the bench, carries the deepest stock of full basements in town, and the split-level plans in particular were designed around a half-flight-down lower level from the start.
When you find one, read it closely, because basements vary far more than the listing lets on. Is the lower level finished living space, or is it framed and unfinished, a canvas you complete on your own terms and your own budget? Is it a walkout, a daylight level, or fully below grade? Does every sleeping room down there have a code-sized egress window and well, because without one the room does not really count as a bedroom no matter how it is marketed. How tall is the ceiling, since an older basement can be low enough that the space reads as storage rather than a floor of the house. Those answers change how the space lives and what it is worth to you far more than the square-footage line on the MLS.
Then there is the Holladay throughline, which is to inspect the decades, not just the house. On the older mid-century stock the update list is knowable rather than scary: electrical panels and original wiring, sewer laterals running under mature trees, single-pane windows, and older supply lines in the oldest homes. In a basement specifically, walk the perimeter for staining, efflorescence, or settling, and ask how water moves away from the foundation, which matters more on the foothill bench where the slope, the driveway grade, and any retaining walls all feed into drainage. If a separate second kitchen and a private entrance are what you are actually after rather than plain square footage, the ADU and casita page is the narrower search. Earlier in the process than show me listings? Start with the Holladay guide, and when a home below reads right, that is the moment to reach out.
Reading a basement here
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Finished or a canvas: some lower levels are fully finished living space, some are left framed or unfinished for you to complete. An unfinished one buys the square footage at a lower cost. The listing does not always say, so read the finished square footage and the photos together.
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Walkout, daylight, or full: a walkout opens to grade on the downhill side and gets a real door, a daylight level gets tall windows above grade, and a full basement sits below grade on all sides. The lot decides which one a home can have, which is why the foothill bench carries more walkouts than the flat valley floor.
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Proper egress: any below-grade sleeping room needs a code-sized egress window and well, or a door to the outside. Confirm it is there in person before you count the room as a bedroom.
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Ceiling height and era: stand in it. A full-height basement lives like the rest of the house, while a low one from the oldest stock reads as storage. On homes this age, note the panel, the wiring, and the furnace while you are down there.
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Water, always: walk the perimeter inside and out for staining or settling, and see where the grade, the downspouts, and any window wells send water. Drainage is the single most useful thing you can read on a basement.
The local map
Where the basements actually are.
Basements are common across Holladay, so this map is less about hunting and more about which kind each part of the city tends to have. The rule of thumb is simple: the flatter the ground, the more likely it is fully below grade, and the more the lot slopes, the better the odds of daylight or a walkout.
The mid-century heart
The 1950s-through-1970s ramblers and split-levels on big lots across the Village core, the foothill bench, and the south edge. This is the city's largest slice of housing and the deepest stock of full basements. Expect finished family rooms, unfinished canvases, and everything between, often within a block of each other.
Split-level floor plans
The split-levels that run alongside the ramblers through the mid-century blocks are a genuine local signature, and the layout puts the lower level only a half-flight down. That usually means better windows and a shorter run to grade than a true full basement, which is why so many of them read as a real floor of the house rather than a cellar.
The Mount Olympus foothill bench
Where the land climbs east of Highland Drive toward Wasatch Boulevard, the grade does the work: daylight and walkout lower levels with full windows and a door to the yard. This is where a basement is most likely to live like a floor rather than a basement. Put the retaining walls, the driveway grade, and how the lot sheds snowmelt on the inspection list.
Larger custom rebuilds
Holladay's constant teardown-and-rebuild current produces newer two-story customs with tall, deep basements, which often makes the lower level live like a full floor of the house rather than a low cellar. A newer build is more likely to have been finished with permits and to drain well, but you still read the space and the grade for yourself.
Historic Holladay and the Village blocks
Around the walkable town center at Holladay Boulevard and 2300 East, and the original 1847 settlement blocks near Spring Creek, the oldest stock generally sits over a full basement and walks to the shops. On the oldest homes the basement can be lower and the systems older, so read the era in the space itself: ceiling height, the panel, the supply lines, and any sign the perimeter has taken water over the decades.
The newer townhome infill, a caveat
The newest product in a nearly built-out city is infill: townhomes rising on the old Cottonwood Mall site along Highland Drive. Attached product does not always carry a basement, and when it does the lower level may be a tuck-under garage rather than living space. If a basement is a requirement, read those listings carefully rather than assuming.
Before you tour: what to actually check
Finished or a canvas: confirm whether the lower level is finished living space or framed and unfinished. The square-footage line does not always separate the two, and the difference is a real budget.
Walkout, daylight, or full: note whether it opens to grade on the downhill side, gets tall windows above grade, or sits below grade on all sides. On the foothill bench you have a real shot at the first two.
Egress on every bedroom: each below-grade sleeping room needs a code-sized egress window and well, or a door to the outside. Look at the actual window wells, not just the listing photos.
Moisture and drainage: walk the perimeter inside and out for staining, efflorescence, or settling, and see where the grade, the downspouts, and the window wells send water. On the bench, add how the driveway and any retaining walls handle spring melt.
Ceiling height and comfort: measure the clearance and check whether the lower level has its own zone or vents. A basement that stays cool in July still has to be comfortable in January.
Inspect the decades, not just the house: the basement is where the age of an older Holladay home shows. Date the furnace, open the electrical panel, look at the supply lines, and scope the sewer lateral, since old laterals under mature trees are the classic knowable expense on this stock.
Want the basement shortlist without the homework?
Tell me your budget, the part of Holladay you like, and whether you want a walkout on the foothill bench or a full basement on the valley floor, finished or a canvas to make your own. Basements are common here, so the real work is sorting the good ones from the low, damp, or unpermitted ones. I will connect you with a trusted Holladay-area partner agent for the on-the-ground work and stay on the file for the homework and the financing, with straight answers about egress, drainage, and what really counts as finished space.
Selling a Holladay home with a finished basement or a walkout lower level? The buyers reading this page are searching for exactly that. List it with the Holladay-area partner agent I connect you with, and your home gets featured across MovingUtah, on the pages they are already reading.
Quick answers
Basement-home shopping, answered.
It comes down to the age of the city and the ground it sits on. Much of Holladay's housing is the 1950s-through-1970s mid-century stock, and on this stretch of the Wasatch Front the footings had to go below the deep valley frost line anyway. Once a builder is digging that deep, putting a basement under the house is the natural move, so full basements are the norm in this stock rather than the exception. That makes the useful question here which kind of basement a home has, and what condition it is in, rather than whether it has one at all.
A walkout opens to grade on the downhill side, so it gets a real door to the yard and full windows. A daylight level sits mostly below grade but gets tall windows above the grade line on one side. A full basement sits below grade on all sides and leans on egress windows for light and a safe way out. The lot decides which one a home can have, which is why the sloped Mount Olympus foothill bench east of Highland Drive carries more walkouts and daylight levels, while the flatter valley-floor blocks are mostly full basements.
Just about everywhere, which is the point. The deepest stock is the mid-century heart of the city, the 1950s-through-1970s ramblers and split-levels on big lots across the Village core, the foothill bench, and the south edge. The historic Village blocks around Holladay Boulevard and 2300 East generally sit over a full basement too. The east foothill bench is where the grade allows daylight and walkout levels, and the flatter valley floor is where a basement is most likely to be fully below grade. The newer townhome infill on the old Cottonwood Mall site is the exception, since attached product does not always carry one.
It runs both ways here. Some lower levels are fully finished living space, and some are left as a canvas, framed or unfinished, for a buyer to complete later. An unfinished basement can be a real opportunity, since you buy the square footage at a lower cost and finish it on your own terms. Listings do not always separate finished from unfinished square footage clearly, so read the numbers and the photos together, and I am happy to read a specific one with you before you tour.
Confirm a code-sized egress window and well in every below-grade sleeping room, note whether the space is finished or a canvas, and measure the ceiling height, because an older basement can be low enough to read as storage. Then walk the perimeter inside and out for staining, efflorescence, or settling, and see where the grade, the downspouts, and the window wells send water. Because much of the stock is this old, the basement is also where you date the furnace, open the electrical panel, look at the supply lines, and decide whether to scope the sewer lateral.
Finished lower-level space generally gives you more square footage for the money than the same space built above grade, and it stays cooler through summer while adding storage and shelter. But because basements are the norm in this stock rather than a rarity, having one is not the differentiator here. What separates the listings is whether the lower level is finished, dry, full-height, and properly egressed. Whole-home prices span a wide range across the bench and the valley floor, and the live listings above are the honest answer on any given week.