Frank Brooder House
Fromberg prospered in the first decades of the twentieth century as an important agricultural shipping and trade center. The town’s status precipitated construction of several impressive houses for prominent members of the emerging business and professional community. Foremost among them was the Brooder House, perhaps the most architecturally sophisticated residence to grace the streets of Fromberg during this period. Archibald McLean, a builder from Bridger, designed this nine-bedroom residence for Clark Fork Valley bank cashier Frank Brooder. Constructed in 1909 by talented local builder/carpenter W. C. Parker, its square plan, three-sided front pavilion, Palladian window, and open porches (now enclosed) at both front and back are a refined and elegant expression of the Colonial Revival style. Brooder left Fromberg in 1911 and sold the house to out-of-town resident Dr. David Williams. After service in the U.S. Army medical corps during World War I, Williams returned to Fromberg in 1921 and opened the home as a hospital for the critically ill. The hospital closed when Williams left Fromberg in 1924, and for many years the splendid residence stood vacant. The home’s more recent history has not been so bleak: in the last decades one owner has raised nine children and another, eleven.
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