The “finest house in Montana Territory” was completed in time for the wedding reception of prominent Virginia City grocer J. S. Rockfellow and his bride on January 29, 1867. Guests were transported by wagon to the “mansion on the hill” in a steady stream of “mud, snow, silks, beauty and humanity.” A rare example of luxury in an isolated area, this home had the first running water in Montana Territory. Rockfellow died in 1868, and later owners included shoe dealer W. P. Armstrong, attorney Theophilus Muffly, and the Morris family. Charles and Sue Bovey painstakingly restored the home in 1946 as their Virginia City residence.
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