Varnum Oliver Blood Home
The transition from the Victorian era to the twentieth century is well illustrated in this striking turn-of-the-century home, which incorporates elements of two architectural styles. The steeply pitched asymmetrical roofline, corner wraparound porch, and bay windows are typical characteristics of the Queen Anne style. Classical Doric columns, a richly ornamented relief panel above the front door, cornerboards capped with a classical motif, and elegant window treatments reveal strong Colonial Revival style influence. This prominent corner property originally belonged to Hamilton founder Marcus Daly. The transitional Queen Anne style residence was built circa 1902 by David Freeze for Daly’s Anaconda Copper Mining Company. Varnum Oliver Blood purchased the home from William and Abraham Johnston as an investment in 1910. Blood came to the Bitterroot Valley in 1895 where he was a well-known rancher and stockman with a large operation two miles south of town on what is now Blood Lane. Bee-keeping and honey production for the Marcus Daly Stock Farm was a major business concern of the ranch. The Bloods initially maintained this Hamilton residence as a rental. In 1920, the family of Arthur E. Walsh, chief engineer for the Bitter Root Valley Irrigation Company, was in residence. When Blood and his wife, Nettie, retired from ranching circa 1930, they moved into town and lived here until 1941. By 1957, local preservationists Frank and Sallie Brutto owned the property and for many years it was the home of Sallie’s sisters, Elizabeth and Nelma Maclay.
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