635 West Granite

Built: 1896
Architect: Henry Patterson
Map 

“For years, it has been almost impossible to accommodate all the people with comfortable houses or apartments,” a Butte newspaper reported in 1901. “The city is growing very fast, and the builders have all they can do to put up enough buildings to accommodate them all.” This block is a case in point: only two residences stood here in 1891, but almost every lot was filled by 1900. Saloon owner Frank Lynch and his wife Fannie were among those to have a home built for them here in the 1890s. Frank worked as a bartender in Butte as early as 1889; by 1896 he and his brother owned their own saloon, and Frank was prosperous enough to hire prominent Butte architect H. M. Patterson to design this one-and-one-half-story, brick-veneered residence.

The charming Queen Anne style home features decorative shingles, multiple bay windows, turned porch supports, and stained glass. The basement contains an outcrop of the granite that underlies all of Butte. In back was a second small house—likely rented to relatives. The project was a small one for Patterson, whose designs include several grand commercial buildings on West Broadway.

Text modified from historic plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard Gibson.