Nestled among mature landscaping, this side gabled English-style cottage was home to the Johnson family from the 1940s to 1954. Arthur Louis Johnson came to Montana with his parents and siblings from Ohio during the homestead boom. The family settled on land in Yellowstone County where his father owned and operated an irrigated farm. Arthur married in 1929 and he and his wife Hildred moved to Kalispell. Fortune smiled on Arthur as he found steady employment at the height of the Great Depression as foreman for the Kalispell Water Department. His career with the water department spanned thirty-four years. By 1940, the Johnsons had two small children and built this comfortable home. They raised their son and daughter here as the surrounding neighborhoods began to fill in and the once-rural West Side became more urban. The home exemplifies the simplified English cottage style with characteristic clapboard cladding, a steeply-pitched roof, gabled entry, and contrasting shutters. Shade trees the city planted decades ago frame the street view presenting attractive and inviting curb appeal.
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