Widower Knute Robbin sold his hardware enterprises in Minnesota and South Dakota to move to Kalispell with his ten children in 1915. Sons Hector, Rudolph, and Arthur soon established Robbin Brothers Hardware in the McIntosh Building on Main Street. Nearby, sons George and Raymond partnered as Robbin Brothers Clothing, known for fine men’s apparel tailored on site. Rudolph Robbin had this Craftsman style house built in 1922, where he lived at different times with brothers Arthur, George, Walter, and Raymond and sisters Selma and Hulda. Sister Elinor, a teacher and artist, also resided here at times. In the 1930s, Selma, the third oldest sibling and a Montana trapshooting champion, purchased the home with her husband, Dr. Albert Dodge. Dodge’s medical practice ended with his death in 1959 at the age of ninety-one. The residence included a unique Rustic style den lined with unpeeled cedar logs. The Dodges decorated it with taxidermy, Native American regalia and artifacts, and western photographs by L. A. Huffman and Kalispell’s Tomar Hileman. Oak trees in the yard stand as testimony to Dr. Dodge, who planted them as acorns.
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