Complex rooflines and decorative details define this wood-frame residence. Particularly noteworthy are the ornamental bargeboards fastened to the roofline and the unique bull’s-eye pattern decorating the front gable. Other details include windows decorated by wooden sashes (muntins) laid in a diamond pattern and fish scale shingles in the porch roof pediment. The elegant residence was built between 1894 and 1904, possibly by John and Anna Gibb, who purchased the lot in 1903 from sheepman J. W. Pope. The Gibbs arrived in Miles City in 1882. A lawyer, coal merchant, insurance agent, and real estate and livestock salesman, John Gibbs also served as Custer County sheriff and Justice of the Peace. Originally, the deed to the home was in Anna’s name. Under certain circumstances, married women’s property was protected from their husbands’ creditors, and families used this fact to protect their assets. Anna transferred the title to John in 1909, and in 1915, they hired builder Mel Paddock to construct an addition on the residence’s east side. The couple remained in residence in 1920. John died at age seventy-seven in 1921; Anna died two years later.
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