About a third of the entire population of Norway left the country during the heyday of emigration between 1860 and 1910. Among those emigrating were the Bratsberg and Grant families, both of whom left the fjord city of Trondheim for Chicago in 1872. In 1874, both families moved to Sherman, South Dakota, to farm. In 1891, Ellen Bratsberg and Laurits Grant married and began farming themselves. The couple moved to Kalispell in 1908. Laurits invested in property and oil leases. Ellen—who lost six children in infancy—was active in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Into her eighties she continued to practice the handicrafts she had learned as a child: spinning, weaving, knitting, rug-making, and Hardanger embroidery (Norwegian white on white needlework). Ellen and Laurits built this elegant Craftsman style home in 1924. Distinguishing features include decorative brackets beneath wide overhanging eaves and the open front porch supported by battered (tapered) columns. Circa 1934, Modern Shoe Shop proprietor Olai Foss and his wife Olive purchased the home. When the couple moved away in 1937, they sold Olai’s shop and the house to Albert and Margaret Sos.
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