Peterson House

Peterson House. East Side Historic District. , Self-styled capitalist Olaf Peterson and his wife Johanna, both Swedish immigrants, built this sturdy two-story home circa 1896. It was the first home constructed on the block. While other neighborhood homes are of frame construction, this residence is of brick. Oddly, several of its former owners were in the timber business. Timber dealer George Millet purchased the home from the Petersons in 1908. Pacific Northwest lumberman Julius Neils of Portland was the next owner. Neils sent his son-in-law, Harry Schocknecht, to Kalispell to establish lumberyards in Montana. The Schocknechts occupied the home until 1915. Logging contractor Thomas Gardner and his family were residents during the 1920s. Dr. Ralph Towne and his wife, Marie, made their home here from 1936 to 1967. The home then served as parish house for the nearby Trinity Lutheran Church. At some time in its more recent history, preeminent Kalispell architect Fred Brinkman designed the newer windows, but the nineteenth-century residence retains much of its historic fabric. A complex plan and orange-red brick softened by mature landscaping make this a distinctive neighborhood landmark.