HomeMy WebLinkAbout214 E Lamme Habs 2011 City of Bozeman,Residence HABS No. MT-16-13oz
214 East Lamme Street
Bozeman
Gallatin County
Montana
PHOTOGRAPHS
WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA
HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDINGS SURVEY
Intermountain Support Office- Denver
National,Park Service
P.O. Box 25287
Denver, Colorado 80225-0287
HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDING SURVEY
INDEX TO PHOTOGRAPHS
City of Bozeman,Residence HABS No. MT-16-13oz
214 East Lamme Street
Bozeman
Gallatin County
Montana
Documentation: 9 exterior photographs
2 interior photographs
Kristi Hager, Photographer, December 2011
1 214 EAST LAMME STREET. CONTEXT FROM LAMME STREET. VIEW TO
SOUTHEAST.
2 214 EAST LAMME STREET.NORTH ELEVATION (PRIMARY FACADE).
VIEW TO SOUTH.
3 214 EAST LAMME STREET. OBLIQUE OF NORTH AND EAST
ELEVATIONS. VIEW TO SOUTHWEST.
4 214 EAST LAMME STREET. EAST ELEVATION. VIEW TO WEST.
5 214 EAST LAMME STREET. SOUTH ELEVATION. VIEW TO NORTH.
6 214 EAST LAMME STREET. OBLIQUE OF SOUTH AND WEST
ELEVATIONS. VIEW TO NORTHEAST.
7 214 EAST LAMME STREET. WEST ELEVATION.VIEW TO EAST.
8 214 EAST LAMME STREET. DETAIL. SOUTHWEST CORNER
SHOWING FOUNDATION, STEPS, AND ORIGINAL LAP SIDING. VIEW
TO NORTHEAST.
9 214 EAST LAMME STREET. DETAIL.NORTH FAQADE, PORCH COLUMN
AND NORTHWEST CORNER WINDOW. VIEW TO SOUTH SOUTHEAST.
10 214 EAST LAMME. INTERIOR. NORTHEAST CORNER STAIRCASE
ADJACENT TO FRONT DOOR(LEFT). VIEW TO EAST.
11 214 EAST LAMME. INTERIOR. UPSTAIRS KITCHEN SINK AND
CABINETS. VIEW TO NORTH NORTHEAST.
HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDING SURVEY
CITY OF BOZEMAN, RESIDENCE
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
I. INTRODUCTION
Location: 214 East Lamme is on the south side of East Lamme Street, an east
/west trending street within the City of Bozeman,MT. Bozeman is
near the southeastern corner of the Gallatin Valley in south central
Montana.
Quad: Bozeman,MT
UTM: Zone: 12; Easting 497382;Northing 5058638
Present Owners: City of Bozeman, Bozeman, MT
Present Occupant: None
Present Use: Vacant
Significance: 214 E. Lamme is a vernacular Free Classic style residence,highly
representative of the historic transition of this northside Bozeman
neighborhood. It is an integral component of an older residential
district that illustrates its evolution from an upper-middle class
neighborhood to a working class one,coincident with the
movement of the wealthier persons to the ever-improving streets
south of Main Street in the early twentieth century.l
Historian: Joan L. Brownell
PO Box 600
Fishtail,MT
January 2011
Mark Hufstetler,Correspondence to Courtney Kramer,April 13,2011,on file,City of Bozeman
Planning Office,Bozeman,MT.
City of Bozeman, Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 2
II. HISTORY
History of East Lamme Neihborhood
This neighborhood history section is quoted directly from the 2011 Montana Historic
Property Record form for 214 E. Lamme prepared by Courtney Kramer, the Historic
Preservation Officer for the City of Bozeman.Z
214 East Lamme first appears on a 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. The
vernacular Free Classic style residence closely mimics the Spieth Houses to the north
across East Lamme Street, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
and built about the same time. These properties, constructed of a style and workmanship
more typical of Bozeman's southside residential districts, were built before the
solidification of Bozeman's Northeast neighborhood as a district for the community's
working class residents.
The residence was originally constructed in a transitional neighborhood on the
Original Townsite of Bozeman. Other homes on the block included a series of houses on
North Bozeman Avenue at the western end of the block and to the east at 218 and 222
East Lamme. The 1912 Sanborn Map indicates a notable lack of residence across the
alley to the south. This block face was opposite West Mendenhall Street from the
community's Red Light District. The tenderloin and Chinatown district inhabited the
north side of the block bounded by Main Street,North Rouse and North Bozeman and
West Mendenhall Streets until the construction of the Carnegie Library on North
Bozeman Avenue prompted City officials to close down the tenderloin area in the first
decade of the 200'century. The proximity of the Red Light District may explain why
residential development to the east and to the west preceded home construction in this
corridor.
The Bozeman Manufacturing Company's Planing Mill across the creek on the
south east corner of the block, as well as the City of Bozeman's pipe shop, city water
works and wagon shed on the north east corner of the block, further demarcated a
separation from the residential district along North Church and North Wallace Avenues.
Platted by William Beall, the lot and block pattern of the neighborhood to the
north of 214 East Lamme reflects the environmental impact of the creek, further
modifying the regular lot,block and alley configuration which strongly characterizes the
City of Bozeman's historic core. The blocks between North Bozeman and North
Montana do not include an alley,perhaps responding to either a lack of block depth in
2 Courtney Kramer,"214 E.Lamme,"Montana Historic Property Record,March 28,2011,on
file,City of Bozeman Planning Department,Bozeman,MT.
City of Bozeman,Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 3
creating sale-able lots, or a failure on Beall's part to properly plat the blocks he annexed
to the Original Townsite from his farm ground.
For unknown reasons, sometime just after this residence was constructed,
Bozeman's middle and upper classes abandoned the residential areas north of Main Street
for the southside residential districts. Perhaps improvements like paved sidewalks,
boulevard trees, and proximity to the Montana State College campus and the Main Street
Commercial district drove higher property values south of Main Street. As the affluent
departed Bozeman's residential districts north of Main Street for the south side of town
after 1900, new construction in the northeast neighborhood was decidedly modest in
scale and finish. Vernacular bungalow style homes were joined by an eclectic mix of
1940's log cabins, mobile homes and basic Depression-Era residences.
Demolition of a number of residences on North Rouse Avenue to make way for
construction of Hawthorne School in 1937 further isolated the neighborhood from
residential districts to the east. The City established a truck repair shop and storage
facilities on the location of their former water works in the early 1940's, reinforcing the
development of North Rouse Avenue as a corridor for industrial transportation between
the commercial core and industrial and transportation use to the north.
In the late 1970's the City of Bozeman purchased the two residences between 214
East Lamme and the creek, and demolished them to make way for a new Bozeman Public
Library and parking facilities. In 2008 the City remodeled the Library for use as a new
City Hall building, and master planning for the complex calls for the area of 214 East
Lamme as space for an addition to City Hall. The City plans to demolish the residence to
enable expansion of the Community Gardens already in use on the rear of the property.
History of 214 E. Lamme
214 E. Lamme is located within the Original Townsite of Bozeman, platted by
William Beall in 1870. Mr. Beall, one of the original settlers in Bozeman who built his
first cabin in 1864,joined forces with John Bozeman and Elliot Rouse in establishing the
Bozeman townsite. However,while Mr. Beall acquired a cash patent for lands
immediately north and west of the original townsite,he did not hold title to lands within
the townsite which is usually customary for early townsite plats. John Noble, District
Judge of Gallatin County, obtained the E1/4 NW1/4 in Section 7, T2S R6E in 1870 "in
trust for the residents"of Bozeman.3
3 Bureau of Land Management General Land Office record available at
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/;Abstract of Title,in possession of Marilyn Cox,Amsterdam,MT;Deed
Book I,page 139,Clerk and Recorder's Office,Gallatin County Courthouse,Bozeman,MT(hereinafter
cited as Deed Books). Judge Noble acquired a patent for the townsite under the Town-Site Act of March 2,
1867 and June 8, 1868;for further information,see Joseph Wesley Thompson, United States Mining
Statutes Annotated, Part II:Miscellaneous Mining Subjects, Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines
City of Bozeman,Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 4
The first transaction for Lots 33 and 34 "with fifty-six feet fronting Lamme"in
Block I of the Original Townsite of Bozeman occurred in October 1870 between Judge
Noble and Peter C.Von Wesley Bakker. Several transactions happen soon thereafter.
Charles Hoffman, another early Bozeman settler,purchased Lots 33 and 34 from Bakker
in December 1870. Two years later in February 1872, Hoffman sold the property to
Francis Geisdorff. Geisdorff,who served as the physician at the first Crow Agency on
Mission Creek,held the property for ten years until he and his wife Anna sold the lots to
Jacob Oakwood in July 1882 a
Mr. Oakwood came to Bozeman in 1874 and served as the first city marshall from
1883-1885. Mr. Oakwood died in 1886 and left the property to his wife and three
children. Anna Oakwood had previously acquired all the lots west of Lots 33 and 34 in
the late 1870s,therefore at Mr. Oakwood's death,they owned the entire northwest
quarter of Block I of the original townsite.s In 1893, Anna Oakwood married John
Mitchell. John Mitchell arrived in Bozeman in 1870 and became involved in both land
speculation and businesses in the Gallatin Valley.6
In September 14, 1908, Mrs. John Mitchell (formerly Anna Oakwood) applied to
connect to the City of Bozeman sewer line,thereby indicating the construction of the
residence at 214 E. Lamme. The 1912 Sanborn map identifies a one and one-half story
rectangular house with a full-length open front porch at this location. By 1916 the
appraised value of the house is $1000.00.7
Anna Mitchell died in 1914 and left her property to her husband and five children.
John Mitchell eventually obtained full ownership of the house at 214 E. Lamme. John
Mitchell died in 1929. In 1936,Minnie Brown, a widow(possibly Mamie A. Oakland
also known as Minnie)acquired the house from her step sisters. That same year she sold
Lots 33 and 34 to Elizabeth Swanson.g
Bulletin 94 Law Serial 4,(Washington:Government Printing Office(GPO), 1915):1354-1382.accessed at
www.books.google.com/books
° Deed Book H,pages 139; 140-41;469;Deed Book 15,page 65.
5 Abstract of Title;Deed Book I,page 1;Deed Book K,page 241;Deed Book 15,page 63. The
1889 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps shows a one and one-half story dwelling in the southwest corner of the
northwest quarter of Block 1,facing North Bozeman and presumably was the Oakwood's residence,
Sanborn Fire Insurance maps,"Bozeman Montana," 1889,accessed at http://sanbom.umi.com,hereinafter
cited as Sanborn map.
6 Mr.Mitchell partnered with Jacob Oakwood on some mining interests and also followed
Oakwood to serve as Gallatin County Sheriff from 1887 to 1889. "John Mitchell Called Beyond,"
Bozeman Chronicle,February 9, 1928,on file, Solvey Sales Memorial Library,Pioneer Museum,
Bozeman,MT.
Application for Sewer Connection No.370, September 14, 1908,on file,City of Bozeman
Engineering Department,Bozeman,MT; Sanborn map, 1912;Abstract of Title.
8 Abstract of Title;Deed Book 79,pages 186,614.
City of Bozeman, Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 5
Although the Mitchell family owned the house at 214 E. Lamme from its
construction until 1936,there is no indication from Bozeman City Directories that any
family member ever lived there.9 In fact,until the 1920s, a cursory review of the city
directories between 1910 and 1920 found no direct references to 214 E. Lamme. By the
early 1920s, Thomas Quinn, an oiler for the Montana Flour Mill and his wife Marie, a
telephone operator,with their son William lived at the address. In 1927,the city
directory lists Nils H. Dahle, an employee of the Bozeman Cannery Company and his
wife May,residing at 214 E. Lamme.10
Elizabeth Swanson purchased this property in 1936 and lived there until her death
in 1959. She and her husband, Axel T., a laborer and later janitor, lived here with their
son, Leslie. The 1943 Sanborn map shows they constructed a back building at the rear of
the lot by the alley that provided for two small rental units. The 1943 Sanborn map also
identifies the house as having three apartments. While Mr. and Mrs. Swanson lived
downstairs,the rooms upstairs apparently served as two apartments, with a shared kitchen
and bath."
After Mr. Swanson died in 1952,their son Leslie and his wife Myrtle apparently
moved in with Elizabeth at 214 E. Lamme. Leslie worked at the Montana Flour Mill in
various positions for most of his life. Elizabeth opened the Minute Laundry in the back
building after her husband's death. Elizabeth Swanson died at her home in November
1959."
After her death,Leslie and his wife Myrtle and their daughter Marilyn,born in
1953, continued to live at 214 E. Lamme. Myrtle operated the Minute Laundry for
several years. After Leslie died in 1967, Myrtle remained at 214 E. Lamme. In 1969,
Myrtle married Robert L. Bradley Sr. and they also continued to live in the house.
Marilyn remembers her mother occasionally rented the two upstairs back rooms to two
women friends while she had the front upstairs rooms while she was growing up.13
Myrtle died in 1999. Marilyn lived in the house off and on until she and her
brother Michael Bradley sold it to the City of Bozeman in 2008.
9 R.L.Polk and Company. Bozeman City Directory and Gallatin County Directory,Helena and
Butte: R.L Polk&Co.,various years from 1910 to 1936,hereinafter referred to as Bozeman City
Directory.
10 Bozeman City Directory,various years from 1910-1920; 1922; 1927.
11 Ibid,various years from 1940 to 1959;Sanborn map, 1943.
12 Bozeman City Directory,various years 1940-1959;"Mrs.E.Swanson Is Found Dead In Her
Home,"Bozeman Chronicle,November 22, 1959,on file,Solvey Sales Memorial Library,Pioneer
Museum,Bozeman,MT.
13 Bozeman City Directory,various years 1959-1980;Marilyn Cox interview with Joan L.
Brownell,January 24,2012,Bozeman,MT.
City of Bozeman,Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 6
III. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
214 E. Lamme is within the original townsite of the City of Bozeman. It stands
two blocks north of Bozeman's downtown between North Rouse Avenue to the east and
North Bozeman Avenue to the west. The present City Hall (formerly the Bozeman
Public Library) is situated east of the house and a historic residence (now apartments) sits
on the corner lot to the west. 214 E. Lamme occupies a rectangular lot and faces north
toward the street. The house sits on a slight rise above street level and is approached by
concrete steps from the street sidewalk with a concrete walk to the house itself(Figure 1).
This residence is a one and one-half story gabled-fronted residence (Figure 2). It
of balloon frame construction formed with rough cut 2 x 4's. Its main mass consists of a
27-foot by 32.5-foot block. A narrow(4-foot by 16-foot) gable-roofed extension projects
off the center of the south wall. An enclosed porch(approximately 5.5-foot by 4-foot)
fills the southwest corner in the ell between the addition and the south wall.
The house rests on raised rubblestone foundation(approximately 20"above
ground level)which has been overlayed with concrete and foam insulation. There is an
approximately 5-foot crawlspace beneath the house. A small room for the water heater
approximately 12-foot by 14-foot with a dirt floor and interior brick walls is accessed by
a wood bulkhead situated in the ell at the southeast corner of the house.
The cross gable roof has the main gable perpendicular(north/south)to the street
and the cross gable (east/west) defining its south end. The roof structure is set on a 1 x 8
ridge board and framed of rough sawn varied rafters on 2-foot centers, ranging in size
from 2 x 4's, 2 x 6's, and 2 x 8's. Rough sawn 1 x 8's serve as decking covered with
chipboard sheathing. The entire roof is covered with asphalt shingles.
The roof edge projects over the side wall, creating wide eaves. The eaves are
enclosed and exhibit crown molding. A low brick chimney protrudes from the roof ridge
near the center of the main gable. An interesting decorative roof detail is visible where
the main north/south gable roof ridge extends beyond the intersection with the cross
gable enough to allow for the exposure of the apex of the gable.
The entire building is clad with asphalt shingles. A wide wood water table
circumvents the building. Original siding is visible on the south end of the west wall and
displays 4"reveal lap siding. The residence appears to retain most of its original window
openings. The majority of windows have been replaced with modern one-over-one
double-hung vinyl units.
City of Bozeman, Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 7
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Figure 1. Location of 214 E. Lamme
City of Bozeman, Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 8
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Figure 2. 214 E. Lamme Residence Floor Plans
City of Bozeman,Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-Boz
Page 9
An open porch covers the lower(north)facade and spans the length of the wall. It
has a hipped roof supported by three evenly-spaced wood columns. Two columns exhibit
an octagonal three-tier base while the third has a simple square base. The columns have
no fluting or detailing. The porch exhibits a bead board ceiling and has 3"wood floor
boards running north/south.
The porch is reached by three wood steps from the walk. The entrance is off-set
on the north facade wall east of center. The entrance retains its original single
ornamental front door of panel and glass construction. The door exhibits five lower
panels and two panels over the glass, all accentuated with beaded molding. A metal
storm door protects the front door.
Flanking the door to the east is a fixed single light square window that serves as
natural lighting for the interior stair. West of the entrance and centered between two
columns on the lower facade wall is a large fixed single light window, an opening that
historically could have held a cottage window with a stained glass header. The upper
front facade is symmetrical with two one-over-one double-hung windows.
A canted (angled) corner finishes the lower facade wall and north end of the west
wall. A one-over-one double-hung window fills the opening and bead board covers the
soffit. Openings on the west wall are irregular(asymmetrical). Directly beneath the
eaves at the north end of the wall is an historic three light awning wood window. Nearly
centered on the west wall is a non-historic vinyl fixed central window with two vertical
sliders. Within the west gable end wall are a single one-over-one double-hung window at
the first floor off-set to the south and a centered single one-over-one double-hung
window at the second story
The east gable end wall has no openings on the first floor but the second story
also holds a centered single one-over-one double-hung window identical to the west
gable. However,the first floor has no openings. The main north/south gable holds two
window openings on the first floor. A small one-over-one double-hung window sits
under the interior stairs and provides natural light for the bathroom. A one-over-one
double-hung window is south of this smaller window. Directly under the eaves, a small
rectangular one-by-one sliding vinyl replacement window is positioned at the top of the
stairs and east end of upstairs hall.
The steeply pitched gabled roof extension, an original component of the house,
projects off the south wall and holds two window openings: a one-over-one double-hung
window to the west of center on its south wall and a large one-over-one double-hung
City of Bozeman,Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
NABS No. MT-16-13oz
Page 10
window that fills its east end wall. The exposed south wall east of the addition displays a
fixed single light square window that sits deep in the wall.
In the southwest corner of the house, in the ell formed by the rear addition and
south wall is a hip roofed enclosed porch. The enclosed porch, a later addition to the
house,measures approximately 5 foot by 4.5 foot and sits on a formed concrete
foundation. The porch has two exterior openings: a side hinged four light fixed wood
window on its west wall and an entry on the south wall. The entrance is approached by
concrete steps and stoop with iron railings. There is only a metal storm door at the
exterior entry. The interior entry into the kitchen is a four panel and upper light door.
The porch interior displays original lap siding on its interior wall and bead board ceiling.
According to Marilyn Cox, whose family owned the property from 1936, her
parents remodeled the house primarily on the first floor after the 1959 Hebgen Lake
earthquake. She remembers, as a child, large oak double doors and decorative
woodworking on the first floor.14
However,the interior of 214 E. Lamme retains some vestiges of its original
historic appearance. The most impressive historic interior element is the quarter-turn
stairway exhibiting fir tongue and groove wainscot covering both walls, and fir railing
along the exterior wall supported by beaded decorative iron brackets. Original trim at
window and doors in the first floor hall exhibits cap molding.
All walls are lathe and plaster. The original high ceilings are still visible in
upstairs closets but elsewhere have been dropped by acoustic tile. Wide base boards are
still extant on the second story. Solid five panel wood doors are found throughout the
house exhibiting original hardware sets of brass oval plates and oval door knobs, all with
keyholes and decorative edges. The small upstairs bathroom holds an approximate 5-foot
cast-iron claw-foot tub.
According to Marilyn Cox,her grandmother,Elizabeth Swanson who purchased
the property in 1936,put in the upstairs kitchen for an apartment upstairs. The kitchen
along the north interior wall exhibits a caste-iron sink encased in a wood cabinet, along
with wood base and wall cabinets.15
14 Marilyn Cox interview.
13 Ibid.
City of Bozeman, Residence
(214 East Lamme Street)
HABS No. MT-16-13oz
Page 11
IV. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abstract of Title, Lots 33 and 34,Block I, Original Townsite, Bozeman, MT, in
possession of Marilyn S. Cox, Amsterdam, MT.
Bozeman Chronicle,February 9, 1928 and November 22, 1959.
Burlingame, Merrill G. Gallatin County Heritage A Report of Progress 1805-1976.
Bozeman:Gallatin County Centennial Publication, 1978.
City of Bozeman. Sewer Records, Engineering Department, City of Bozeman, Bozeman,
MT.
Cox, Marilyn S. Interview with Joan L. Brownell, January 24, 2012, Bozeman, MT.
Gallatin County, Deed Books, Clerk and Recorder's Office, Gallatin County Courthouse,
Bozeman, MT.
Historic Resources of Bozeman, a multiple property listing of National Register of
Historic Places, accessed at http://www.preservebozeman.or .
Hufstetler, Mark. Correspondence to Courtney Kramer, April 13, 2011. on file, Planning
Department, City of Bozeman, Bozeman, MT.
Hufstetler, Mark and Mitzi Rossillon, "North Rouse Avenue, Gallatin County, Montana
Cultural Resources Inventory." Report Prepared for HKM Engineering, Helena, MT
by Renewable Technologies, Inc, Butte,MT.
Jenks, Jim. "A Guide to Historic Bozeman." Montana Mainstreets Vol. 7. Helena,MT:
Historical Society Press,2007.
Kramer, Courtney. "214 East Lamme" Montana Historic Property Record, on file,
Planning Department, City of Bozeman,Bozeman, MT.
Polk, R.L. Bozeman City Directories, various years from 1910 to 1980.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps,Bozeman, M7: 1884, 1889, 1891, 1896, 1903, 1923, 1923
(revised 1943), at htip:Hsanbom.umi.com.