HomeMy WebLinkAbout014 - 430 N Tracy ARCH AssessmentJordan Zignego, PhD, AIA
Architect 406 853 4120 jzignego@gmail.com
24 March 2025MFGR
RE: Historical Architectural Assessment of 430 North Tracy
Dear Andrew/MFGR,
Please find the following assessment regarding the historic significance of the house located at
430 North Tracy.
Best,
Dr. Jordan Zignego, PhD, AIAMember, Society of Architectural HistoriansMember, American Studies Association
1
The original house, built prior to 1904, is situated toward the front of the lot, with a small garage
toward the rear of the parcel.
In August 1984, James R. McDonald Architects produced a “Montana Historical and Architectural
Inventory” report and is available on the City of Bozeman’s website. The physical description of
that report is as follows:
The firm’s research found that their survey had, “not yielded any significant historical information
concerning persons or events associated with this property,” and, additionally, the building, “is an
intrusive element within a potential historic district.” 2
Finally, the report also states that the structure is “non-contributing due to extensive alteration,”
and that, “the house was probably built in 1915 in the Bungalow style on the site of an earlier
structures [sic] by R.V. Harr.” 3
Currently, as of 2025, the property does fall into the North Conservation Overlay District
(NCOD), and into the North Tracy Ave. Historic District. However, the status of 430 N. Tracy is
listed as non-contributing.
The National Register calls attention to the neighborhood consisting of bungalow houses.
However, 430 N. Tracy does not fit this description.
“This detached one-and-one-half story family residence has a rectangular plan
with recessed front entry. The facade is asymmetrical and consists of an offset
front entrance flanked by fixed windows. The frame construction is finished in
aluminum siding and rests on a concrete foundation. The gable roof is covered
with asphalt shingles and features one shed-roofed dormer. The axis of the roof
is perpendicular to the street. The original house has been totally altered and
enlarged. A fireplace was added to the north, new windows added, roof raised,
and a dormer was redone on the north side in the 1940s. Outbuildings include a
garage and shed.”1
24 March 2025
Historic Architectural Assessment430 North TracyBozeman, MT
Overview
1. James R. McDonald Architects, “430 North Tracy,” Montana Historical and Architectural Inventory, (1984).2. Ibid.3. Ibid.
2
This is a photo taken of the house in
1984/5 at the time the first or revised
historical inventory form was conducted.
Note the building does not fit a bungalow
style architectural language.
This is the house in its current
state. It appears that the siding
material, paint, doors, windows,
trim and car port/shed, along
with the overhang, have ben
altered or added.
Survey Photo - 1984/5
Street Elevation
430 N. Tracy Architectural Characteristics
3
Note the added dormer,
changes to the windows, and
the addition of the garage and
overhang to an added side door.
The small garage does not follow the same language of the rest of the house and is clearly an
addition at a later date, presumably coinciding with the addition of the dormers.
Dormer and Garage
Garage
4
Note the dormer, changed windows, siding, color, and the brick chimney as all not of the original
construction.
The garage, as with the rest of the house does not hold any historic integrity and appears to be
a series of additions and alterations and unlikely that any part of it is historic.
Alterations
Garage
5
The house located at 430 N. Tracy appears to have no historic importance architecturally, or in
contributing to the neighborhood.
In 1984, per the Montana Historical and Architectural Inventory that was conducted, had
deemed the structure as not historically significant and, furthermore, as being, “an intrusive
element within a potential historic district.”
The wear and degradation of the house, including the several and severe alterations, only
makes the building less significant. This author also agrees with the 1984/1985 assessment that
the “structure is an intrusive element within a potential historic district.”
There is other neighboring stock that serve as better examples of the neighborhood
characteristics of the time and that of the historic vernacular and bungalow architecture.
Findings & Interpretation