Osteopaths Norman Vredenburgh and Claude Sawtelle built this Craftsman style bungalow in 1915 as a “sanitarium,” a small hospital and nursing home. From its inviting inset front porch to its prominent hipped dormers, the building looked more like a house than a hospital. However, according to its newspaper advertisements, the sanitarium served as a center for “Osteopathy, Hydrotherapy, Electrotherapy, Violet Rays, Electric Light Sweat Baths, and the famous Ozon Treatment.” In particular, the partners specialized in “chronic and maternity cases, eye, ear, nose, and throat work” and optometry. Dr. Vredenburgh lived next door while Dr. Sawtelle resided at the hospital. Many such private hospitals opened in towns across Montana before resources were available to construct larger facilities. In this case, the venture was short-lived. The sanitarium closed before the 1918 flu epidemic hit Forsyth; flu victims received treatment at a makeshift emergency hospital in the Masonic Lodge. Forsyth finally gained a permanent hospital when Rosebud County contracted with the Deaconess organization to open a thirty-two-bed facility in 1922.
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