Margaret Barron bought what was then a new home, along with two vacant lots next door, in September 1909. The house, which originally had a smaller central shed-roof dormer, featured many popular Craftsman style elements. These included a low-pitched roofline, exposed rafter tails, a full-width porch, and natural building materials, in this case wood shingle siding and a foundation of river rocks. Both originally from Scotland, John and Margaret Barron met and then, in 1894, married in Butte. John worked at the jewelry store owned by Margaret’s family until the couple decided to move with their daughter Betty to Hamilton, where John opened Barron Jewelry. In 1915, the adventurous Margaret—whose solo automobile trips to Missoula and camping trips with friends appeared in the newspaper—died of cancer. John and Betty remained in the house, sometimes renting rooms to boarders, into the 1940s. They were joined by Betty’s husband, merchant Bud Smith, after the couple married in 1919. When John died in 1947, Bud and Betty’s son Ellsworth took over the Main Street jewelry store his grandfather had founded, continuing its operation until 1994.
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