A pedimented entryway and multi-pane transom window are among the Greek Revival style elements that decorate this side-gable brick home, built c. 1932 for Julius and Anna Clavadetscher. A talented cellist, Julius played with the Minneapolis Symphony before moving to Billings in 1917, where he joined a musical ensemble that accompanied silent pictures at the Strand Theater. In addition to working as a union musician, he founded and directed the Ladies Ensemble in 1926 and taught thousands of Billings students as the longtime junior high and high school music teacher. Starting in 1929, he also directed the Rotary Boys Band, without whom, a 1940 newspaper article declared, “no public parade in Billings is complete.” Anna, who lived here until her death in 1954, was prominent in Yellowstone County Democratic circles. She served as vice chair of the county central committee, congressional committeewoman from the second district, president of the Democratic Women’s Club, and delegate to the 1949 presidential inauguration of Harry Truman. All of the Clavadetscher children played music; Carl followed his mother into politics, serving as Billings mayor from 1959 to 1962.
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