201 North Excelsior Avenue (Scovil Residence)

Built: 1917
Map

John Scovil worked as a watchman for the Anaconda Company after he first arrived in Montana in 1884. He opened a laundry in 1894; six years later he purchased the Union Laundry in Butte. By 1911, Scovil and a partner owned almost all of the laundries in Butte and employed approximately 175 people. Scovil also invested widely in real estate. He built this two-and-one-half-story monument to his success, along with the duplex next door, in 1917 for the considerable sum of $19,800. Behind the residences was a two-story garage with an apartment on the second floor. The elegant garage may have reflected John’s wife Lalia’s interest in motoring; Lalia was thought to be the first woman in Montana to own and drive her own automobile. A dark brown brick veneer and repeating architectural details visually connect the three buildings. Lalia assumed presidency of the Scovil-owned Taylor Laundry Company after John died in 1925, remarrying in 1927. She continued to live here with her second husband, attorney Laurence Myers, until her death in 1942.

Resources: Historical plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

105 North Excelsior (Hodgens / Ryan Home)

Built: 1899
Present use: boarding house
Map 
Web site

Thomas Hodgens, who held the prestigious position of cashier at the State Savings Bank, was the first owner of this magnificent T-shaped Classical Revival style residence built in 1899. Second owner John D. Ryan purchased the home in 1905. Ryan rose from a lowly oil drummer to president of the Daly Bank and was the only man to ever serve as president of both the Anaconda Company and the Montana Power Company, which he helped form in 1912. As director of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, Ryan initiated the railroad’s electrification in 1916. A myriad of ornate high-style details ornament the façade of this splendid brick home, including Ionic columns, Palladian windows, second-story balustrade with decorative paneled posts, and dormers with swan’s neck pediments. The elaborate embellishment and expert workmanship well reflect the wealth and power of these two influential men.

Resources: Historical plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

27 North Excelsior (John Gillie Home)

Built: 1890
Map

Armed with a degree in mining engineering, Canadian John Gillie arrived in Butte via stagecoach on April 6, 1880. The mining camp was so crowded that even hotel floor space rented at a premium. Gillie bedded down in the hayloft of a barn, a rude beginning to a long and distinguished career. Gillie became known as “dean of Montana mining engineers.” He was so highly regarded that, even though copper kings W. A. Clark and Marcus Daly were at daggers’ points, both employed Gillie as examining engineer; he later served as superintendent of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. In 1895, the Montana legislature appointed Gillie secretary of the commission to establish the Montana School of Mines (now Montana Tech). By 1890, he and his wife, Margaret, settled into this home, which they owned until Gillie’s death in 1941. One of the first residences west of the original townsite, its simple elegance and more rural appearance set this home apart from its later high-styled neighbors.

Resources: Historical plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

9 North Excelsior (William Symons Residence)

Built: 1908
Map

A graceful rounded portico with Ionic columns and a central square bay with French doors highlight the perfect symmetry of this grand Classical Revival style residence of tan brick veneer and red sandstone trim. Elegant details include elaborate brackets, dentils, a round window, and full-width veranda. Classical harmony carries through to the interior in a perfectly symmetrical floorplan. Fine turn-of-the-century appointments include a dining room with the original leather-clad walls, inlaid oak flooring, and pocket doors throughout the first floor. Local contractor Byron Whitney built the home circa 1908 for the William Symons family. Symons, with his brother Harry, founded Butte’s premier department store in 1897. Wholesale grocer Charles Youlden was the next owner from the mid-1920s until his death in 1940. Among his many philanthropic and civic contributions, Youlden was the longtime director of the YMCA. The prestigious, well-maintained home remains a prominent Butte landmark and attractive neighborhood anchor.

Resources: Historical plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

5 North Excelsior (Gillies/Parent House)

Built: 1901
Map

This showcase Queen Anne style home adds ambiance to one of Butte’s most prominent blocks. An elegant brick arch, flared overhangs accentuated with wooden brackets, projecting oriel windows, a centered Palladian window, and an extended gable decoration visually complicate the front facade. Constructed in 1901, it was home to Bettie Boyce and her husband, mining engineer Donald Gillies, who served as superintendent and ultimately manager of the W. A. Clark properties. In 1923, the Gillies’ daughter Lynnie married Horace Siegel, manager of Siegel Clothing. The Butte Miner described the wedding, which included a reception at the home, as one of the most notable ever in Butte. The Gillies and Siegels owned the house until 1928 when they sold it to Thomas and Esther Parent. Thomas worked as a salesman for the Symons Department Store, whose owner built the mansion next door. In 1932 the Parent family waved from the front yard as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s motorcade passed by. Their son Thomas Jr. and his wife Mildred raised four children in the home, and it continues to remain in the Parent family as of 2012.

Resources: Historical plaque by Montana Historical Society. Photo by Richard I. Gibson.

Mary MacLane House, 417-419 North Excelsior

 

By Mark Reavis
   
Built: before 1900
Status: Vacant, restoration in progress (2013)
Map

This typical bay-fronted flat was home to controversial Butte author Mary MacLane from about 1900-1909. The structure is largely intact with some modification, damage and deterioration. The front porch is original; the back porch was originally Y-shaped with two independent, two-story porches that had stairs leading to a central platform and then to the ground. The open back porches were enclosed and connected to each level about 1915, when the bath was installed. Designed in the manner of a typical four-unit walk-up flat, this home was constructed as a two-unit duplex with internal stairs. The duplex had a stacked upper and lower unit on the south and an upper and lower floor on the north; the latter was the MacLane home. Mary MacLane was 19 years old and living here in 1901 when she penned her famous diary, The Story of Mary MacLane. Shocking for its day, the diary expresses Mary’s eroticism and strange dreams with remarkable frankness. The book sold 100,000 copies in its first month and was cited by Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein as an influence in their search for a new American writing style.

Many interior changes took place over the decades with the lower floor opened to connect the two original units, forming a first-floor single-family home. The interior stairs were removed but the two second-story units remained, turning the house into a 3-plex prior to the beginning of restoration work. The removal of the internal stairs was a unique form of birth control undertaken by the family—the father was relegated to the south upstairs apartment after supper with doors locked to eliminate his midnight visits and the resulting children. The northern second-floor unit was usually rented at a minimal cost to a handyman or family friend.

This building is not platform framed: its balloon-framed wood 2 x 4 studs are two stories high (or a bit more). It has 2 x 10 joists and a minimal attic with a relatively flat built-up asphalt roof sloped to drain to the back Leaking of the roof has been frequent. The home went through several rounds of tax default and repurchases at tax sales. One of the previous owners thought it would be nice to widen the narrow hallways upstairs by combining them and removed the central bearing wall, a problem that exacerbated the leaking roof. The building was offered and purchased on a county developer’s packet once; those owners defaulted and left town. Ownership returned to the county and it was offered through a second developer’s packet procedure and acquired by Butte historians at a cost of $500. Restoration work is being diligently performed by volunteers and as an internship for the Historic Preservation Technology Program at the College of Technology Program at Montana Tech of University of Montana. In 2012, Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization granted $7,000 as a 50% match to replace the roof.

Photo by Richard Gibson