Valley farmer James Eckleberry built this residence as a rental property in 1900. Among his early tenants were Big Fork Electric Power and Light Company president Lafayette Tinkel and Charles I. O’Neil who, with his brother Clinton, owned the state’s largest retail lumberyard. Eckleberry sold the home to retired clothier Abraham Nathan in 1912. Nathan, a confirmed bachelor, continued to maintain this residence as a rental while he lived in hotels and rooming houses. He still owned the property upon his death in 1940. Nathan’s tenants included Cannon Clothing Store proprietor Harvey S. Cannon, horticulturist Edward Dickey and insurance agent H. M. Huck. The Daily Inter Lake described the American four-square style home in 1909 as an eight-room brick house with “all modern improvements.” Except for a full-width porch that originally spanned the front, the turn-of-the-twentieth-century home reflects few changes. Numerous families have lived under its roof, but the home has obviously been well cared for by its owners: even the stained glass remains in place.
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