Arthur and Sarah Bland moved into this “Free Classic” style home in 1903. Like many multistory residences, the house’s kitchen was placed under a separate, single-story roof to give firefighters a better chance of containing a kitchen fire. Arthur worked as the district court’s bailiff, and the couple also invested in real estate. Sarah was active in the Christian Church and the Mothers’ Club, a group that collected and repaired used clothes to distribute to needy children. The Blands had five sons, but only one still lived at home during their tenancy, so the couple took in roomers. By 1927, the residence had been converted into “housekeeping rooms,” an inexpensive, apartment-style alternative to a rooming house. Most of Montana lost population during the 1920s and 1930s as drought and low commodity prices bankrupted dryland farmers, but not Kalispell, which saw rapid growth and experienced housing shortages. James and Alice Hawks, from Grass Range, Montana, purchased the home in 1935, where they lived with their daughter and son-in-law and two other families.
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