West Side Historic District, Kalispell

21 Locations | Curated by Historic Montana

Small farms and orchards dotted the fourteen blocks of this residential neighborhood when the original townsite of Kalispell was platted in 1891. Soon a few wood frame buildings were constructed on its lots for temporary housing and to provide outlying farmers a place to stay during trips to town. By the end of the decade, property owners were replacing these with more substantial residences. The close proximity of the high school (1897) and the county courthouse (1903) helped spur the West Side’s early development. Large Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style residences mingled with more modest gable-front-and-wing style homes, each surrounded by wood rail and chicken wire, picket, or cast iron fences. Flower gardens and fruit trees adorned front yards while vegetable gardens, chicken coops, barns, and privies crowded back yards. By 1910, St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, designed by George Shanley, and the O’Neill House, designed by Marion Riffo, added distinction to the growing neighborhood. Shanley and Riffo, along with Judge Charles Pomeroy, author Margaret Scherf, and poet James Whilt were among the district’s prominent early residents. By the mid twentieth century, many outbuildings had been converted to rentals and larger homes to rooming houses providing accommodations for teachers and high school students living in town for the school year. The rent supplied needed income during hard times. Today the front porches that once offered residents a quiet refuge have mostly been enclosed or removed. Hollyhocks and sweet peas no longer line fences, but shade trees planted by the city decades ago and spacious front lawns preserve the original “homey” atmosphere of this early neighborhood.

A built-in china cabinet with access from two rooms, a bird’s-eye maple floor in the dining room, a breakfast nook with a simple round arch, and an early dishwasher made this stylish 1905 Queen Anne style residence a haven for entertaining. A cross-gabled plan, decorative shingle siding, a…
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When twenty-five-year-old housekeeper Cora Brooks Moore lived here with her four-year-old son, she owned the home free of mortgage. She built the simple, one-story gable-front home sometime between 1894 and 1899. At that time, it had a back porch but no front porch. Her neighbors were mostly…
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Albert Dreesen and his wife Emma purchased this residence from carpenters W. M. Kelsey and H. G. Seely in 1909. Born in Germany, Dreessen immigrated to Chicago with his family when he was fourteen. He attended night school to learn English and then worked his way across the country on farms for…
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A second-story Palladian window and a full-length front porch (now enclosed) enliven the façade of this house, built in 1910 for Henry and Josephine Hegranes. In that year, a horse stable off the alley was the nearest building to the Hegranes’ residence, one of only two houses on the west side of…
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Built by William F. Eckelberry around 1903, this four-square residence features a full basement, a front gabled dormer, a full-width front porch, and a leaded-glass bay window in the dining room. Remodeling efforts in 1910 reduced the recessed porch on the south side. Ornate wood moldings, original…
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Rural families who valued education faced a dilemma when their children graduated from the local one-room school. Many students simply ended their studies after eighth grade. A lucky few, like Mercedes Lee, moved into town for the winter to attend high school. Some came alone and boarded with…
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This side-gabled vernacular style residence was built for English-born veterinarian Charles F. Leslie in 1908. Dr. Leslie, a graduate of Ontario Veterinary College in Toronto, came to Kalispell in 1906 when horses still provided most transportation needs. He served as veterinary surgeon for several…
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Carpenters Hiram Seeley and William Kelsey built this front-gabled farmhouse on speculation in 1909 and lived here briefly as they finished the interior. The frame two-story house recalls the rural character of the area, when the home sat alone on the block. Stables behind and across the alley…
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A proud Civil War veteran from Ohio, Joseph McElroy claimed that during his service in the Union army he traveled 27,000 miles, fought in ninety-seven engagements, and escaped from the notorious Andersonville Prison. In 1879, he and his wife, Clara, left Ohio to homestead in the Gallatin Valley,…
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Thomas E. Chester built this gable-front residence for his bride, Effie, in 1903. Chester’s bookstore, established in 1907, became a Kalispell fixture. John Boorman, secretary of the Montana Forestry Association from 1911 to 1946, lived here briefly in 1909. John T. Sauntry brought his bride,…
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Kalispell architect Fred Brinkman designed this one-story residence in 1939. Among other large commissions, Brinkman designed the St. Mary's Visitor's Center in Glacier National Park and Linderman School in Kalispell.  The versatile architect's work ranged from understated…
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The unusual architecture of this front-gabled vernacular style residence, built by Alfred Pierce in 1901, sets it apart from its neighbors. One of the first homes built in the neighborhood, it was considered a fairly expensive home at $2,400. Peterson was proprietor of the Somers Hack Line, and…
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While most of Montana lost population during the 1930s, Kalispell grew dramatically as people migrated from areas hard hit by drought and economic depression. Contractors like Herbert Yeaw, who built this one-story, wood-sided home, filled the city’s vacant lots with small residences to accommodate…
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Three large, hipped roof dormers and a recessed porch define the look of the Ross House, a vernacular home built between 1920 and 1927. The dormers provided a stylish, but inexpensive way to expand the home’s living space; occupants received the benefits of a second floor without the cost of…
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The Queen Anne style home built before 1903 on this prestigious corner has long been a West Side neighborhood landmark. Its complex floorplan, varied siding, pedimented entry, and two-story bay are vintage Queen Anne. For more than half a century, Clarence Rostad and his wife, Clara, made their…
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Kalispell architect Fred Brinkman designed this one-of-a-kind neighborhood landmark early in his career in 1924. Known for unique designs, Brinkman’s creativity is particularly evident here in the picturesque lattice used as architectural ornament. A stuccoed chimney and dormer panel complement the…
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This turn-of-the-twentieth-century home and its two outbuildings recall a time when neighborhood residents cultivated backyard gardens and spent leisure hours on front porches. High school principal Eugene Steere purchased the property in 1903. He and his wife, Lillian, moved to their Dayton ranch…
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Dr. Victor Sundelius was the first owner of this charming cottage, built circa 1937. Victor and his brother Fred, both osteopathic physicians, practiced together in Kalispell during the 1930s and 1940s. The brothers were generous to the community, donating their medical services to high school…
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Belsami Tetrault was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1852 and came with her family by covered wagon to the Flathead Valley in the mid-1880s. Her husband Joseph, also a native of Montreal, left his family in 1881 to work on the railroad in the United States. Reunited at Fort Missoula in 1885, the…
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The Kalispell Bee in 1903 described the newly completed residence of county clerk and recorder James Wiltse Walker as “one of the handsomest dwelling houses in the city.” A classic example of the Queen Anne style, typical architectural elements include an irregular plan, wraparound porch, varied…
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