Filed Under Butte

J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence

Butte National Historic Landmark District

Ornamental wooden brackets tucked under wide overhanging eaves, spacious dormers, exposed rafter tails, and a full-length front porch reflect the Craftsman style’s influence on this two-story residence. The style was initially touted as “the ideal home for the lover of the out-of-doors.” Its originators intended the large front porch to connect homeowners to their natural surroundings. Butte’s urban streetscape had almost nothing in common with the lush California suburbs where the Craftsman style got its start. But by the 1910s the style’s popularity was so widespread that it seemed a logical choice for J. Fred and Sophia “Babe” Gamer. The couple hired contractor George Wortman to build the two-story residence circa 1917. In the 1930s, the Gamers converted the residence into a duplex to accommodate Fred’s brother, Charles, and mother, Emma. Charles and Fred worked together in the family shoe business, originally founded by their father in Helena in 1868. Fred and Sophie also founded Gamer’s Confectionery, a restaurant famous for its pasties. The couple lived here until their deaths, Sophie’s in 1949 and Fred’s in 1950.

Images

J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence
J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence (PAc 91-51 B1 RollCA01 F06). Front to side view of the house, facing northwest on the corner of West Mercury Street and South Jackson Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Chris Amos Date: 1984
J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence
J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence (PAc 91-51 B1 RollCA01 F07). Front view of the house, facing north on West Mercury Street near the corner of West Mercury and South Jackson Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Chris Amos Date: 1984

Location

503 West Mercury Street, Butte, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “J. Fred and Sophia Gamer Residence,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/2001.