Filed Under Miles City

Kelly Residence

Miles City East Main Street Residential Historic District

Sometimes called “labor’s aristocracy,” locomotive engineers were the highest paid workers on the railroad. That fact gave William Kelly, an engineer for the Milwaukee Road, the means to purchase this one-story home. In 1920 he lived here with his wife, Nellie, their three-year-old son, and his wife’s sister. Building contractor Carl Anderson constructed the residence in 1917; he almost certainly took the design from a pattern book. These books of architectural plans allowed local builders to bring the latest fashions to relatively isolated communities like Miles City. A classic Craftsman style bungalow, the Kelly residence features a low-pitched roof; exposed rafter tails; wide, overhanging eaves; and a full-length front porch (now enclosed). Japanese architecture inspired its distinctive roofline. Japan widely promoted its art and architecture through the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Architects responded, incorporating Japanese elements into their residential designs. Anderson must have liked the exotic flavor of the flared eaves and molded gable peaks; he built several other bungalows in Miles City that sported similar “pagoda-style” roofs.

Images

Kelly Residence
Kelly Residence Kelly Residence. Front view of the house and garage, facing west to northwest on North Cottage Grove. Source: Montana State Historic Preservation Office Creator: Dena Sanford and Susan McDaniel Date: Mar. 1989

Location

7 North Cottage Grove, Miles City, Montana | Private

Metadata

The Montana National Register Sign Program, “Kelly Residence,” Historic Montana, accessed March 28, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/265.