Filed Under Butte

815-817 West Mercury

Butte National Historic Landmark District

Beautiful brickwork crowns this grand bay-fronted flat, built in 1904. Architectural highlights include a two-story polygonal bay, transomed entries, and arched windows trimmed in rough-faced granite. Originally built as a duplex, Queen Anne style mutli-family housing like this is characteristic of Butte’s older historic neighborhoods where urban crowding compromised domesticity. In an attempt to mirror more traditional housing, apartments were designed to resemble in appearance and floorplan the popular Queen Anne cottage. This premier example first belonged to real estate proprietor Thomas Stephens who lived here with his wife Emma and two sons from 1904 to at least 1910. The Stephenses rented out the other flat. In 1910, Anaconda Copper Mining Company salesman Norton Scott and his wife Mary were tenants. Through the 1990s, new owners reversed alterations made during the 1960s and 1970s, converting the duplex to a single family home. Interior and exterior restorations have returned much of the home’s period grandeur. The addition of a columned front entry porch and a side porch, along with other original features, now make this an impressive neighborhood landmark.

Images

817 West Park
817 West Park facade Source: Montana Historical Society Creator: Julian Boughton and Martha Kohl Date: July 2022
815-817 West Mercury
815-817 West Mercury 815-817 West Mercury (PAc 91-51 B1 RollCA09 F03). Front to side view of the building, facing northwest on West Mercury Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Chris Amos Date: 1984
815-817 West Mercury
815-817 West Mercury 815-817 West Mercury (PAc 91-51 B1 RollCA09 F04). Front to side view of the building, facing north on West Mercury Street. B&W. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office from the Photograph Archives at the Montana Historical Society Creator: Chris Amos Date: 1984

Location

815-817 West Mercury Street, Butte, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “815-817 West Mercury,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/2002.