In 2011, Clifton was working at ThoughtLab — a design studio in downtown Salt Lake City — when he listed his first flat on a then-obscure site called Airbnb. He was among the very first hosts in Utah. Nobody knew what it was. He figured it out anyway.
As guests kept booking, there was a problem: he'd given up his apartment to make it work. So he slept on the couch at the ThoughtLab office — for months — while hosting those first 110 guests himself. Checking them in, answering every message, doing every load of laundry.
It worked. He added another flat. Then another. The operation grew until going it alone didn't scale, and partners joined to take it further. The full-circle moment: he later came to own a flat in San Francisco, across the street from the house where Airbnb was founded. He still doesn't think that's a coincidence.
That's why we know which drawer sticks. Why we've already fixed the thing you were about to message about. And why you get a real person's number, not a support queue.
Salt Lake City native. Skier, runner, and the person most likely to rearrange the furniture before a guest arrives. Handles operations, design, and the obsessive pre-stay checklist.
Detroit enthusiast and the reason the Brush Park properties are as good as they are. Handles guest experience, growth, and finding the next great property before anyone else does.
24 flats across the Granary District, Downtown, Sugarhood, and 9Line. Thirty minutes from the best powder skiing on earth, walkable to everything worth eating and drinking in the city.
Browse SLC flats →2 exceptional flats in Brush Park — steps from Little Caesars Arena. Victorian mansions, striking new builds, and a city that keeps proving everyone wrong. We love it here.
Browse Detroit flats →LCF is small by design — every person on the team touches the guest experience directly. We're not hiring to fill a box. We're looking for people who care about the details as much as we do.
If any of these sound like you, send us a note:
Email us at contact@lakecityflats.com — attach your resume, any relevant links, and a short note about why you'd be a good fit. No formal cover letter required.