Ripke House

While most of Montana lost population during the 1930s, Kalispell grew dramatically as people migrated from areas hard hit by drought and economic depression. Contractors like Herbert Yeaw, who built this one-story, wood-sided home, filled the city’s vacant lots with small residences to accommodate the influx.

Constructed in 1939, the interior of this practical residence includes built-in nooks and archways, typical of Kalispell homes of the era. It also has an attached garage, distinguishing it from its older neighbors. The first garages were converted barns or carriage houses. By the teens, most “modern” homes had detached garages at the rear of their lots, though that was changing.

As one architectural critic commented in 1919, “putting a garage in a house may sound like a joke, but it is not.” Only after World War II did the style become commonplace. Francis and Ethel Ripke purchased the residence in 1940. Francis moved to Kalispell in 1903 and served as deputy sheriff for many years.

He died at home in 1960; Ethel continued to live here until 1973.