Filed Under Virginia City

Daems House

Virginia City Historic District

Though simple by today’s standards, the Daems house exemplifies an upper-middle-class, early-1860s Virginia City dwelling. Dr. Levinus Daems and his wife Marie Daems, a nurse, may have been the first residents of the house. Born in Belgium and trained in Paris, Dr. Daems arrived in Virginia City in 1863 to open the City Drug Store. Marie followed a year later with their young daughter and Marie’s two sisters. Levinus served on the first Board of Aldermen in 1865, the Territorial Council in 1866, and as mayor in 1868. He owned more than thirty properties in town. It is unclear if the Daems’s continued to live here as their family and fortunes grew, or if the home became a rental property. Nevertheless, its colorful wallpaper, paint, and faux wood-grain trim reflected the Daems’s economic status and showcased the decorative products their drugstore sold. Levinus died in 1874, and Marie died in 1904. The house remained in the family until 1952. In 2007, the Montana Heritage Commission documented the house’s multi-layered interior finishes before restoring the residence to its 1860s appearance.

Images

Daems and Corbett Houses, Virginia City, Montana.
Daems and Corbett Houses, Virginia City, Montana. View of two frame houses with covered porches. The Dr. Levinus Daems house on the left was built around 1864 and the John Corbett house on the right was likely built in 1863. The two houses were built as separate structures with separate owners on Idaho Street in Virginia City, Montana. Source: PAc 956-367. Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives, Helena, MT. Creator: Unknown photographer Date: Between 1930-1950
Daems House, Virginia City
Daems House, Virginia City View looking south at Daems House facade Source: Courtesy of Montana Heritage Commission Creator: Kate Steeley, Montana Heritage Commission Date: Oct 2019

Location

118 West Idaho Street, Virginia City, Montana | Public

Metadata

Montana National Register Sign Program, “Daems House,” Historic Montana, accessed March 29, 2024, https://historicmt.org/items/show/2740.