Furst Residence
New residents flooded the housing market as Anaconda’s smelter works expanded into the twentieth century and the town began to outgrow its original perimeters. The City Council approved several new additions including this area, annexed as the First Western Addition in 1916. Guidelines to encourage orderly development called for a minimum dwelling value of $2,500 and a frontage of at least twenty-five feet. Prominent Willow Creek rancher/dairy farmer John Furst purchased two adjoining lots for $875 and built this home during the winter of 1917-1918. Furst came to the United States from Alsace-Lorraine, France, in 1870, learned the trade of shoe cobbling, and came to Butte in 1878. He operated a shoe store there until 1881 when he went into ranching. Furst also had a local contracting business and developed commercial and residential real estate. This residence, initially built as an investment on the west end of the addition, for many years had few neighbors. After Furst died in 1927, his wife, Theresa, moved into town from the ranch and made her home here until 1949. The beautifully maintained residence is an outstanding example of the Craftsman Bungalow, a style that emerged in California and was widely promoted in the first decades of the twentieth century. Square tapered columns, wide bracketed eaves with exposed rafter ends, triangular braced roof supports, heavy window trim and a front-gabled dormer are defining stylistic elements. Multi-paned windows enclosing the porch, added in the 1930s, and a slightly flared roof line enhance the cottage-like appearance of this charming home.
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