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Home My WebLink About201 S Willson 2021 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD For the Montana National Register of Historic Places Program and State Antiquities Database Montana State Historic Preservation Office Montana Historical Society PO Box 201202, 1410 8th Ave Helena, MT 59620-1202 Property Address: 201 S Willson Ave Historic Address (if applicable): City/Town: Bozeman Site Number: 295 (An historic district number may also apply.) Historic District: 24GA954 (Bon Ton Historic District) County: Gallatin Historic Name: Sperling/Lewis House Original Owner(s): Elias Sperling Current Ownership Private Public Current Property Name: WAM Inc. Owner(s): WAM, Inc. Owner Address: 201 S Willson Ave, Ste B, Bozeman, MT 59715-4602 Phone: Legal Location PM: Montana Township: 2S Range: 6E NW ¼ NW ¼ SW ¼ of Section: 7 Lot(s): Lots 1-3 Block(s): Block E Addition: Alderson Add Year of Addition: 1871 USGS Quad Name: Bozeman Year: 1987 Historic Use: Residential Current Use: Commercial Construction Date: 1880 Estimated Actual Original Location Moved Date Moved: UTM Reference www.nris.mt.gov NAD 27 or NAD 83 (preferred) Zone: 12N Easting: 496949 Northing: 5058171 National Register of Historic Places NRHP Listing Date: 1986 Historic District: Bon Ton Historic District NRHP Eligible: Yes No Date of this document: 12/9/2020 Form Prepared by: E. Sakariassen, Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, Inc. with C. Alegria and C. Hendry, Extreme History Project Address: PO Box 1526, Bozeman, MT 59771 Daytime Phone: (406) 219-3535 MT SHPO USE ONLY Eligible for NRHP: □ yes □ no Criteria: □ A □ B □ C □ D Date: Evaluator: Comments: MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 2 Architectural Description Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Architectural Style: Queen Anne If Other, specify: Property Type: Residential Specific Property Type: Commercial Architect: Unknown Architectural Firm/City/State: Unknown Builder/Contractor: Unknown Company/City/State: Unknown Source of Information: James R. McDonald, 1984 This site is the Lewis/Sperling House--a 1.5-story, wood-framed, vernacular Queen Anne style house now used as offices of WAM Inc. The house was first recorded in 1984 by James R. McDonald Architects and was subsequently listed in the NRHP as a contributing site within the Bon Ton Historic District (24GA954; McDonald 1986). He described the house as follows: "This detached one-and-one-half story duplex has an L-shaped plan with a recessed corner entrance porch on the far façade and a bay window with balcony accessing the second floor window on the nearest façade. Windows in the structure are 2/2 double-hung. The frame construction is finished in horizontal siding and sits on a concrete foundation, with the porch base and steps of flagstone. The gable roof is covered with asphalt shingles, has a central brick chimney, and the main body of which lies parallel to the street." Metcalf visited the site on October 15, 2020. The property is a frame house with an irregular plan shape and concrete foundation. It appears to have originally been t-shaped, with a cross gable roof. Its plan has been complicated by a series of rear single-story, gable- roofed additions. The entire roof is currently covered in asphalt shingles. The exterior walls are clad in asbestos shingles, erroneously identified by McDonald as horizontal siding. Other features not previously described by McDonald were also noted, including the primary doorway in the recessed corner porch which appears to be original and contains a large two-lite paneled door with a deep-set transom lite above. Other openings throughout the house are intact and all of the double-hung windows appear original. The additions to the rear of the house are gable-roofed and were present at the time of the 1984 recording. The only change since McDonald's visit appears to be the application of newer asphalt shingles to the roof and the removal of the brick chimney, which formerly pierced the north half of the building at the ridgeline. Asbestos siding, the rear additions, and the more recent removal of the brick chimney affect integrity of materials and design of the original construction. Regardless, Metcalf concurs with McDonald's original recommendation that it contributes to the Bon Ton Historic District. Overall, the site is in excellent condition and retains sufficient integrity to convey historic character. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 3 History of Property Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 HISTORY OF PROPERTY The Lewis/Sperling House was completed c. 1880 for Elias Sperling, a successful Bozeman merchant (McDonald 1984). Elias Sperling came to the United States from Germany in 1840 and found work in the fur trade in New York state. He came to Montana as a merchant in 1872 and opened a general store with the firm he helped found: Strasburger and Sperling. He was junior partner, bookkeeper, and general manager. In 1886, he moved to Butte, Montana, as a traveling salesman. In 1921, he became deputy sheriff--an office he held for six years (Great Falls Tribune 1929). Notes on the property's chain of title have been compiled by staff at the Gallatin County Historical Society and provide a general overview of the site's past historic associations. According to property records on-file with the Historical Society, the land was originally issued to William H. Babcock, early Bozeman developer, in 1869. In 1871, he deeded it to William W. Alderson for $2,500. Elias Sperling and his wife Estelle purchased Lots 1, 2, and 3 of Block E in Alderson's Addition from William W. and Frances W. Alderson on September 22, 1879. At the time, William W. Alderson was editor of the Bozeman Avant Courier (Scott 2009). By February 1887, when Elias filed a homestead claim for the property, he had already built a residence here but was temporarily living and working in Butte. He estimated the value of his lots and "dwelling house thereon and its appurtenances" at $2,500 (Abstract of Declaration 1887). The following year, he sold the property to Joseph Lindley, early real estate and insurance broker, who deeded it back to Estelle Sperling within several weeks before Elias and Estelle ultimately sold to Kate N. Lewis in 1890 for $3,000. Very little information was found regarding the Lewis family. Thomas Lewis is listed in the 1900 census simply as "capitalist" and may have been employed in freighting by the firm Willson and Rich (MSU Library 2001-2020). Their daughter Edna later studied at Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (R.L. Polk & Co. 1902). In 1892, the Lewis family sold the property to Samuel H. Carrow and in 1904 he and his wife Anna sold it to Ellwood H. Fisher. A. T. and Gelia Rutledge owned the property for two months in 1917 and sold to Lena A. and R.E. Brown who remained there from 1918 to 1938. No information on the Browns has been found. The subsequent owner, Nicholas and Bertha Pope owned the property until Nicholas died in 1951. Nicholas Pope was a businessman who owned Pope's Apparel shop, a women's clothing store on Main Street (R.L. Polk & Co. 1940). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 4 Information Sources/Bibliography Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 INFORMATION SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Bon Ton Historic District 1986 National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form. National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. Great Falls Tribune [Great Falls, Montana] 1929 "Butte Early Settler is Seriously Ill." 19 November. Great Falls, Montana. James R. McDonald Architects 1984 201 S Willson Ave. Historical and Architectural Inventory Form. Document on-file with the City of Bozeman. Bozeman, MT. Montana State University (MSU) Library 2001-2020 "Early Travel in Montana, 1906," Archives Finding Aids Database. Electronic document, https://arc.lib.montana.edu/finding-aids/item/394, accessed 12/14/2020. R.L. Polk & Co. 1941-2010 Polk's Bozeman (Gallatin Count, Mont.) City Directories. R.L. Polk & Co., Kansas City, Missouri. Electronic document, ancestry.com, accessed 12/14/2020. Scott, Kim Allen 2009 "Biographical Note", William W. Alderson Diary, 1964-1879 Collections Finding Aid. Electronic document, arhchiveswest.orbiscascade.org, accessed 12/14/2020. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 5 Statement of Significance Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NRHP Listing Date: 1986 NRHP Eligibility: Yes No Individually Contributing to Historic District Noncontributing to Historic District NRHP Criteria: A B C D Area of Significance: Architecture, Community Planning, Settlement Period of Significance: Historic More Than One Decade STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE This site is the c. 1880 Lewis/Sperling House, a 1.5-story wood-framed vernacular Queen Anne style house built for area merchant Elias Sperling. It is currently listed in the NRHP as contributing to the Bon Ton Historic District (24GA954; McDonald 1986), the period of significance for which is defined as 1880-1937. As stated in the NRHP nomination, "of the numerous more modest houses on S. Willson Avenue built in 1883, the most significant are 201, 311, 316, and 401 South Willson - a diverse array of Italianate and Queen Anne style residences built predominantly by merchants of various sorts." Metcalf finds that the site is in good condition, despite some minor alterations affecting integrity of materials and design. The site is currently listed in the NRHP as contributing within the Bon Ton Historic District and retains integrity sufficient to maintain its listed status. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 6 Integrity Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 INTEGRITY (location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, association) Metcalf finds that the site is in good condition, despite some rear additions and removal of the original chimney, which affect integrity of materials and design. MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 7 Photographs Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 Feature # 1 Facing: SW Description: Oblique view southwest (Image #0468, 10/15/2020. EAS). Feature # 1 Facing: W Description: Façade view, facing west (Image #0472, 10/15/2020. EAS). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 8 Photographs Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 Feature # 1 Facing: SE Description: Oblique view southeast (Image #0470, 10/15/2020. EAS). MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 9 Site Map Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295 MONTANA HISTORIC PROPERTY RECORD PAGE 10 Topographic Map Property Name: 201 S Willson Ave Site Number: 295