Tripp and Dragstedt Apartments

The Butte Miner declared this “the largest apartment house between St. Paul and Spokane” when it opened in 1916. The $80,000 building, constructed by Charles C. Goddard, included forty apartments around a U-shaped plan. Each unit was designed so that the living room faced an exterior wall, thus allowing plenty of light.

Amenities included built-in bookcases, separate ventilating systems, and refrigerators. The fourth floor housed a ballroom, parlors, restrooms, and kitchen while laundry facilities were located in the basement. The splendid building features a myriad of intricate patterns of Clayton tapestry and Salt Lake bricks offset by granite and ornamental wrought iron.

Today, the Tripp and Dragstedt remains untouched by time in both function and appearance: even the original Otis elevator continues to transport residents. The building is still Butte’s largest apartment house and serves as a visual bridge between the mixed commercial and residential elements of the neighborhood.