635 South Fourth West

Julia and Aaron Conner homesteaded in the Bitterroot Valley in 1882 where they prospered and raised six children. Aaron was elected judge at Darby in 1886 and served as Speaker of the House in the Montana legislature in 1900 and 1903. After Aaron died in an accident in 1905, locals named the community Conner in his memory.

Julia moved to Missoula so her youngest daughter could attend high school and her son the university. She was the first owner of this newly built home, in residence with her two children and several boarders by 1909. The side-gabled Craftsman style cottage shares similarities with the Reed residence next door.

Norwegian carpenters Andrew and Theodore Reed built that home and dozens of others in the neighborhood. They likely built this home as well. The two neighboring homes feature dominant front-facing dormers and horizontal clapboard cladding but are not identical. The Reed brothers’ characteristic wood moldings finish the doors and windows, but this house emphasizes the Craftsman style.

Decorative triangular braces accent the gables, and the wide, overhanging, open eaves have exposed rafters.