Expansion of the railroad after the turn of the twentieth century brought many new residents to Urlin’s Addition on Missoula’s Northside. Rental housing such as this one-story Pyramid Cottage style residence, constructed circa 1907 and originally owned by the Missoula Real Estate Association, provided comfortable living quarters convenient to the railyards. Like its neighbors to the north and south, simple stylistic features include a hipped pyramidal roof and west-facing porch. Northern Pacific car repairman Robert MacLean and his wife, Marion, were the first known residents in a long line of railroad-employed tenants. In 1920, Swedish immigrant Otto Meyer, his wife Inga, and their two children rented the home. Meyer was brakeman with the Northern Pacific. During the 1940s, Northern Pacific laborer Henry Kuntz and his family rented the home. The Kuntz family broke the rental pattern by purchasing the property in 1947 and lived here until 1973.
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