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Home My WebLink About20 W Main 1985 111iONTANA HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL INVENTORY Site, L-oal Description:___ _ CONTACT Address. A Nest Main Street PHOTO Ownership:Name: Montana Motor Suppl.y, Inc. °nvale address: 20 Weft. Main St. , Box 580, Bozeman, MT 5971-5 RoIIN Fra<<aN Historic Name: Michil;an Buil-din Lovelace Buildi g I � ' �1 Common Name:The Montana o nr Supply Building r{ X eslimaled Date of Construction: c. 1905 documented Tp Architect: Unknown Builder: Unknown 1I ' Original Owner: E. Broox Martin -,- OriginalUsenffic.es/Commercial Present Use: Apartments/Commercial _ RESEARCH SOURCES: Note all records consulted to determine dates of construction,original owners,builders,uses,etc. j - LAJ .11 ! Title Search: Tax Records:_ Bldg.Permit: Census Records Sewer/Water: Sanborn Maps: X Q I Q Directories: Newspapers: X 6Cc1� BA-�CocK I PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Dasc^te r.-ess-t accaa•ance c` structure site. then contrast and compare that with its original : -y oc: ' c-s a"e•a' c^s a-•d cla^,es in ma'eria's Discuss significant architectural features- I 20 W . Main 1985 revision Matt Cohen , surveyor Description : The Lovelace building is a 3-story , 5-bay , brick commercial block with a symmetrical , cararra glass double store- front . Windows , which are rectangular in the 2nd floor and segmental arched in the 3rd , have keystones ( possibly lime- stone ) . The latter have 6/ 1 sash while the former have 1/ 1 sash . The gold brick facade is framed by corner quoins , articulated in brick , and a tall , flush brick parapet of a non- matching gold color , which bears the words : " Lovelace Building" in chrome letters . The first floor , which accomodates a recessed central entrance lined with red cararra glass , and two flanking storefronts , also with recessed central entrances , displays bands of light and dark cararra glass that frame the two store- fronts . Non- contributing stucco covers the bottom edges of the storefronts . Large , Art Deco letters above the east storefront read : "Bungalow" , as do polychromatic tiles before the door step . Hanging perpendicular to the top of the west storefront is a neon sign in the shape of Montana that reads : "Montana Motor Supply . " The red brick sides of the building have stepped parapets . 20 W . Main 1985 revision Matt Cohen , surveyor Significance : The Lovelace Building , one of the few 3-story commercial blocks in the district and a typical example of turn of the century commercial design , is perhaps most significant for its Fred Willson-designed , Art Deco style storefront - one of only three storefronts of the period in the district . Both occupants of the two street level stores have been there for over 50 years , and are original to the storefront . Built around 1905 by E . Broox Martin , the building was originally named the " Michigan Building , " after Martin ' s native state . Martin also built 33-43 E . Main , probably only slightly earlier , and, named it the " Martin Building . " Other buildings in the city erected by Martin include his own residence at 1814 S . Willson Ave . ( 1709 ) , The Evergreen Apartments at 317 W . Koch St. ( 1918) , and the Clark Apartments ( 1914) , Martin was a rancher as well as entrepreneur , and in 1892 became the first president of the Commercial National Bank ( 104 E . Main ) . The original tenant in the east store of this building may have been "The Bungalow" ice cream parlor , which still occupies the space today as Bungalow Drug ( an ice cream parlor and factory appear here on the Sanborn Map of 1912) . A c . 1908 photograph of the then-elaborate interior of the Bungalow is inscribed : " The Bungalow - largest ice cream parlor in the west/ R. J . Roschie , Prop . " ( Burlingame , 1976 , p . 44) . In the early 20th century , the Bungalow was Bozeman ' s most popular con- fectionary and ice cream parlor , and made its own candy and ice cream . Here one could find such diverse treats as " Frozen dainties , " waffles , " phosphates , " chocolate sundaes , and even oysters , in season ( Bozeman Chronicle , March 30 , 1983 , p . 18) . The storefront is today still crowned by the name , " Bungalow , " in bold , silver and red Art Deco letters . The western store has seen at least five occupants . In 1912 , according to the Sanborn Map , there was a cigar and tobacco shop , and a billiard hall here . By 1918 , the J . N . McCracken department store occupied this space (Weekly Courier ,August 21 , 1918 , p . 6) . J . C . Penney bought out McCracken ' s in 1929 , and located in the Fechter Hotel ( 128- 130 E . Main ) , until 1937 when the chain moved into and remodeled 9 E . Main . By 1933 Farmers Market Produce was in the former McCracken ' s space , which Gardner Waite remembers well . John Lovelace , head of Lovelace Realty , Inc . and at one time a state Senator , bought the building in 1934 , and moved his Montana Motor Supply Co . into the western store , next to the Bungalow . That company , founded in Livingston in 1919 as the Michelle Filling Stations , was expanded to Bozeman in 1925 as the Lovelace Oil Co . ( later called the Lovelace Motor Supply Co . ) , and located in a service station that formerly stood at 628 W . Main . In 1932 the parts business was separated from the oil business , and for 2 years the former occupied a store on Main St . The parts business was renamed "Montana Motor Supply , " D since it had branch stores in Livingston , Helena and illon . The present Montana-shaped neon sign for Montana Motor Supply , which hangs perpendicular from the storefront , may date to that first auto parts store . John Lovelace purchased the building in 1934 , moved the Montana Motor Supply into it , and soon , if not immediately thereafter hired Fred Willson to redesign the storefront . He also had the original , ornamental parapet removed ( see attached photograph , ) and replaced with a flush brick parapet bearing the words : " Lovelace Building , " spelled out in chrome , t Art Deco letters . Lovelace also bought Martin ' s building across the street , the "Martin Building , " around this time , which today bears similar letters in the parapet that spell out the words : " Hawthorn Building , " his wife ' s maiden name . One year after Lovelace bought the building , 1935 , Fred Willson redesigned the Bungalow storefront for J . Bartlett , proprietor of the business by then . Four years later , he presumably designed both the storefront of Montana Motor Supply , and the central entrance to the upper floors of the building , unifying these elements with the Bungalow storefront ( see Willson Job List entries in bibliography) . The storefront , which spans the first floor of the building , includes stripes of dark and light beige cararra glass on the ` exterior , and red within the recessed entry way . Three colors of encaustic tile cover the doorstep to the Bungalow , with the name of the establishment inlayed . Each window making up the Bungalow storefront retains a c . 1935 transom deacl that advertises such things to be found inside as " Fountain , " " Films , " " Gifts , " " Candy" and " Lunch . " In 1943 , Lovelace built an impressive auto machine shop directly behind this building ( 19-21W . Babcock) in connection with the motor supply business . ( See 19-21 W . Babcock ) . According to Gardner C . Waite , since at least as early as the 1920 ' s , the upper floors of this and several other buildings on Plain St . , were used as a rooming house . In 1948 , the upper floors at this building became known as the West Hotel . Bibliography Bozeman Daily Chronicle , March 9 , 1929 ( 2-page ad for J . C . Penney) . Bozeman Daily Chronicle , October 28 , 1949 . Gardner C . Waite , interview , 9/ 5/85 , 9/24/85 Mrs . Jack Lovelace , interview , 9/5/85 Weekly Courier , August 21 , 1918 , p . 6 ( ad for J . N . McCracken ) Sanborn Maps , 1904 , 1912 , 1927 . Burlingame , 1976 , p . 44 Bozeman City Directories , 1927 , p . 181 ; 1933 , p . 64 Fred F . Willson Job List : 1935 , job # 3517 ; "Store Front - Bungalow - J . Bartlett . " I Bibliography_ cont ' d 1937 , job # 3718 - " Ceiling for Bungalow - Bartlett . " 1937 , job # 3719 = "Addition , Michigan Building , Lovelace . " 1939 , job # 3907 ; " Store Front Alt . - Michigan Block . " i .x• e Yn 0 f -