521 University Avenue

Deed records show that the Northern Pacific Railroad sold this property to the South Missoula Land Company in 1889. Company shareholder A. B. Hammond subsequently platted the Hammond Addition. Buyers of his lots signed an agreement promising to build homes worth at least $3,000. This lot, however, remained undeveloped.

Real estate investor George L. Steinbrenner bought the property in 1912, but it was not until the late 1920s that he built this Craftsman style home as an investment. Anthony and Cora Dawes were its first residents. Cora operated the Varsity House here from 1929 to the mid-1930s, offering student lodgings close to campus.

In 1944, George and Margaret Pramenko purchased the home. Pramenko, the longtime owner of the Flame Lounge, was a well-known businessman and a wonderful entertainer, a master at playing the tamburitza, and famous for his trademark Tom and Jerrys. Wide eaves with exposed rafters and a shed dormer characterize the Craftsman style, but decorative windowpanes and half-timbering in the gable ends lend it a personality as distinctive as its longtime owner.

MT NATIONAL REGISTER SIGN TEXT 1990 TO APRIL 2019