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CUTTING EDGE REALTY, LLC
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The William Harmon House
1005 PALMER STREET
MILES CITY, MONTANA
From the National Register of Historic Places:
"The William Harmon House is significant predominantly for its architecture as an excellent example of one of the earliest surviving brick Queen Anne style houses in Miles City. It is very significant as well for its association with the original owner, William Harmon, who was a prominent Miles City businessman, rancher and stock farmer, The Harmon Residence also possesses important associations with Kenneth McLean, a rancher and politician who purchased the Harmn House in 1900. Within ten years after buying the building, McLean added a NeoClassical veranda and altered an existing bay -to give the house its present appearance.
The Harmon House, despite being modified between 1903-1910, is a good example of an elaborate masonry Queen Anne style residence, Typical of the style, the house has an irregularly-massed hipped roof with a lower cross gable that is front-facing and asyrrmetrically placed on the facade. Also in keeping with the Queen Anne style, the house uses wall surfaces, in this case masonry, as primary decorative elements. A variety of bays, wall projections, windows and decorative brick provide random changes in the horizontal continuity of the wall plane. These features have remained clearly distinctive even after the early 20th century alterations.
The Harmon House was one of the first brick houses constructed in Miles City; in 1888 there were a total of six brick residences with the city limits. Palmer Street, on which the Harmon House is located (two blocks from the central business district) was sparsely developed in 1888, but already had a number of large, irregularly-shaped, wood frame Victorian period houses spaced intermittently along both the north and south sides, By the time the Harmon House was constructed, one other spacious brick residence and an Episcopal church had been built nearby on Palmer, indicating that the street was soon to become a fashionable residential area in Miles City.
Although the Harmon House has undergone minor exterior alterations, these changes occurred during the historic Furthermore, they significantly add to the architectural character of the property, and illustrate very well a common pattern of altering a Queen Anne residence in the early 20th century with Classical ornamentation. The two early, historically important owners of the property are, therefore, very clearly represented as well in the Harmon House."
About the Architect:
Architect Byron Vreeland was recruited by E.H. Johnson to build the Harmon House. Johnson was Miles City's first Mayor, elected in 1887. Vreeland worked in both Miles CIty and Bozeman and was the first to design large-scale buildings in both towns. He also constructed the Episcopal Church on North 11th Street in Miles City and the City Hall and Opera House in Bozeman. His work is best known for Gothic, Queen Anne, and Romanesque elements.
A Note About the Original Owners:
"E. H. Johnson, state legislator and Miles City’s first mayor, built this impressive modified Queen Anne style home in 1887. Attributed to Miles City architect Byron Vreeland, the irregular plan originally featured an elaborate arched porch and an elliptical bay capped by a conical roof. Rancher William Harmon, the home’s second owner, built the carriage house in 1891. Third owner Senator Kenneth McLean, following current architectural trends, added Neo-classicaldetails and a wraparound veranda between 1903 and 1910. Ella M. and David G. Rivenes purchased the property in 1962." (Wikipedia)
