HomeMy WebLinkAboutJohnsonHse MONTANA HISTORICAL/ARCHITECTURAL INVENTORY #46' (ADDENDUM TO BOZEMAN MRA)
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HISTORIC NAME: Johnson House a�6- 5
ADDRESS: 506 N. Bozeman
LEGAL BOUNDARY: Beall's First, Blk 5 .
W. 126' of N 84' , Trk 2 'p'
OWNER'S NAME: Robert and Anne Rolesar y
OWNER ADDRESS: 506 N. Bozeman
SPECIFIC DATE: 1889
ARCHITECT: Unknown r ,�
BUILDER: Unknown
ORIGINAL OWNER: John Grannis - �
ORIGINAL USE: residence '
PRESENT USE: residence
UTM REFERENCE: 12/497420/5058750 -
ACREAGE: .,less than one acre �
U.S.G.S. QUAD: Bozeman, 1953 - -
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: -
Applicable Criteria: C ►
Number of Contributing Properties: 1
This fine trigabled vernacular house with Queen Anne detailing is individually eligible for
the National Register based on architectural significance. The building is one of the few
well preserved brick buildings from the Queen Anne period in Bozeman. The house retains
shingle work in the gables, an ornate, pedimented porch, and all original windows and
doors. -
Although precise dating of this house is difficult, it appears to have been built around
1890 at the tail end of a substantial building boom in the city triggered in the early
1 880 's by the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Brick rather than wood had become
the material choice duringthat period, for it expressed the optimism that Bozeman would
remain a permanent, opulent settlement, in a region accustomed to boom-bust cycles of
growth and decline. Although brick was scarce at the beginning of the 18801s, by the end
of the decade, Bozeman was exporting brick. The &yant bier noted in 1889 that ". . .a
carload of Bozeman brick will leave today for Red Lodge" (August 29, 1889, p.3) .
Nevertheless, by the end of the 1880's, the beginning of an economic depression, later
known as the Panic of 1893, slowed construction in the city, and relatively few houses of
this caliber remain from that time.
The house is an important visual element seen from Beall Park. Indeed, this site may have
been considered a choice location for a residence until just after the turn of the century,
when the areas south of Main Street became accepted as clearly more desirable.
Although previous research attributes John Grannis as the original owner of the house, no
confirming evidence has been found. From about 1900 and on into the 1940's, the house was
occupied by Swan Johnson, and after his death around 1910, by his widow, Alice Johnson.
Swan Johnson was part owner of the Dahle & Johnson Saloon on Main Street.
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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: — _ a C� A
This detached, two-story, single-family residence has an L-shaped plan with a hipped roofed
open porch in the interior joint of the ell and a small, shed roof, frame addition to the
rear. The two-bay facade is asymmetrical and consists of an off-center front entrance with
_three double-hung one-over-one double hung windows on the ell and two side-by-side double
hung windows on the first level of the other bay and one on the second. The windows have
brick segmental arches and wooden sills. Inoperable shutters flank most of the windows.
The porch roof has a decorative gable overdoor and is supported by six turned posts. The
bearing wall construction is finished in brick and rests on a rubble foundation. The gable
roof is covered with blue asphalt shingles and features over-hanging eaves and enclosed
soffits. There is one central brick chimney. A green house addition is now under
construction on the south elevation. Outbuildings include a large old barn and a barn.
B IBL ICG RA PHY:
Application for Sewer Connection: September 9, 1918, Mrs. Alice Johnson
City Directories: 1904-5, p. 121; 1910, p. 107; 1912, p. 102; 1916-7, p. IO2;
1927, p. 162; 1940, p. 81.
Bird's Eye View: 1898, house shown
FORM PREPARED BY: James R. McDonald, P.C. (1983-84) ; Matthew Cohen (1985-86 revision) ;
Patricia Sick (1987 revision) , State Historic Preservation Off ice,r225 No. Roberts, Helena,
Montana 59620 (406) 444-7715
9off#11 Frame A 1A-12