Montana Historical and Architectural Inventory (Site # 045 )

Address:	108 8th Avenue No., Lewistown, Mt
Ownership Name:	Lewistown Art Center
Historic Name:	Lehman Bunkhouse
Common Name:	Art Center
Date of Construction:	Pre-1901, addition 1905, addition 1977
Architect:
Builder:
Original Owner:	Charles Lehman
Original Use:	Bunkhouse
Present Use:	Art Center

Physical Description

This cultural center is a "combination" of structures: a low rectangular stone structure originally used as a bunkhouse that appears to have been built in two phases, and a gable roof carriage house that has been moved in to the southwest of the stone structure and connected to it. Neither mass particularly dominates the other; they coexist side by side. The main entrance to the facility is in the interstice between the two building types.

Stone Structure: A one-story stone structure with a low slope intersecting gable roof that occupies a corner lot. The southern section of the structure may have been built at a different time than the north, as evidenced by the roof construction, two identifiable entrance doors on the northeast wall, and the switch from cut stone at the north section to rubble stone at the south section. Rubble stone is also used on the northwest wall of the north portion. The roof is covered by wood shingles and is edged with a narrow flat wood fascia. There is almost no overhang; a wood trim separates the edge of the roof from the top of the stone wall. Double hung 1/1 wood windows and simple rectangular doors penetrate the walls of the stone structure. Stained glass from St. Joseph’s Hospital has been reincorporated in one of the original doorways. The substructure is rubble stone.

Carriage House Addition: This is a two-story gabled roof structure with a gabled wall dormer centered on the street elevation. The roofs are covered with wood shingles and have plumb cut exposed rafter tails at the eaves. The rake is trimmed with a wide barge board with scroll cut ends, and a king-post truss pattern in the plane of the barge. The barge trim and truss are both supported by barge brackets of a trussed pattern. Exposed out lookers can also be seen under the barge. The wall material is bevel wood siding with corner boards and wide flat casing around openings. A pair of wood double hung 4/4 windows occur under the southwest gable; a diamond window looks over the top of the stone house from the northeast gable. A tripart wood window is located in the wall dormer. The large doors characteristic of the building’s former use can be seen on the northwest (street) elevation. An external fire escape has been added to the southeast elevation of the carriage house to comply with current building codes.

The art center qualified for register listing under Criteria C. The stone "bunkhouse" is unique as a building type in the survey area and is another example of stone construction in Lewistown. The relocated carriage house is a sympathetic addition to the primary occupant of the site.

Historical Significance:

This property is significant because of its association with Charles F. W. Lehman, one of the leading pioneer merchants of Lewistown. The structure is typical of early stone construction common around the turn of the century in the fledgling community.

Mr. Lehman was engaged in stone contracting prior to coming to Lewistown in 1893, and it is likely he built the stone Charles Lehman & Co. Building on Main Street (now gone) and the "Bunkhouse".

The rubble stone "Bunkhouse" began life simply as a rooming house for the unmarried male clerks and drivers for the Charles Lehman Co. Doubled in size by 1908, it also served as housing for many students who were unable to make the trip to Fergus County High School on a daily basis from remote rural areas of the large county.

The "Bunkhouse" remained in the Lehman family’s possession until 1970, when it was purchased by the Lewistown branch of the Montana Institute of the Arts for use as a community art center.

In 1977, the center, in need of additional space, rescued the von Tobel carriage house from the bulldozers and moved it to the art center site. The carriage house, built around 1900 on the corner of Third Avenue and Water Street, was then rehabilitated for use as additional gallery and office space.