Pearce House

Kalispell architect Fred Brinkman designed this one-story residence in 1939. Among other large commissions, Brinkman designed the St. Mary's Visitor's Center in Glacier National Park and Linderman School in Kalispell. The versatile architect's work ranged from understated residential cottages to innovative, modernist styles.

For this modest pre-World War II home, Brinkman employed markers of earlier architectural styles (including the hipped roof and defined entryway), but incorporated only minimal ornamentation, reflecting his increasingly modernist aesthetic. Alton and Jean Pearce commissioned the residence, perhaps because they liked Brinkman's design of MT NATIONAL REGISTER SIGN TEXT 1990 TO APRIL 2019 the First Presbyterian Church, where Jean's father served as pastor.

A pharmacist, Alton owned and operated the Alton Pearce Drug Company for forty-five years, beginning in the early 1930s. An avid sports fan, he also helped promote the Kalispell City League Semi-Pro Baseball Club. He and Jean raised two children in this comfortable home, where he resided until his death in 1978.