811 S Willson Ave
Bozeman, MT, USA

811 S Willson Ave, Bozeman, MT, USA

Formally known as The Story Mansion, this house resides at 811 S Willson Ave, Bozeman, MT, USA

SAE Members in 1977

The SAE Fraternity

"By 1922, a nexus of national fraternities was established at Montana State College, including Sigma Alpha Epsilon SAE. Housing for students was in-town; none on campus, so fraternal groups sought large residences for growing membership. Although T.B. Story’s house was at $30,000, then a mighty sum, the SAE’s met the asking price, garnering much of that sum from the community. The boys held their prize for the next 80 years!

Fine craftsmanship, materials, and design of the T.B. Story Mansion is credited with its remarkably good condition during 80 years of fraternity occupancy from 1923 to 2000. It survived heavy use for crammed sleeping quarters in the Carriage House and the 3rd floor “ballroom” (elegant under T.B.’s ownership). Credit should be shared between generations of actives who cherished their fine quarters, and the presence of a House Mother who promoted decorum. House mother’s resided in one of 8 bedrooms (study rooms) on the 2nd floor. Throughout the years, fellow students came to know the terrain on the 1st floor and grounds. The Chapter Room in the basement still flourishes the colors purple and white of SAE. Memories abound among the frat boys who lived in the Story Mansion."

The Story Mansion and Park Today, cared for by Friends of the Story Mansion (FOSM)

About the Friends of the Story Mansion (FOSM)

"In September 2007, a rough business plan by an ad-hoc group, “Save the Story Mansion”, was presented to City Commissioners, outlining how restoration of the 1st floor could, with rentals as public space, cover yearly operation coasts; restoration of the 2nd and 3rd floors, and the Carriage House for anchor tenants, could meet maintenance costs. Restoration into a gracious public gathering space was a concept endorsed by a majority of commissioners in November 2007.

The concept blossomed in 2008. A budding “Friends of The Story Mansion” gathered increasing community support, alongside a City Commission that voted to match the Deportment of Interior waning offer of a Save American Treasures Grant. With each part of the $394,000 match, totaling $800,000 finally in place, restoration began for the 1st floor, and on elements of code requirements for the two upper floors and the basement.

FOSM VISION AND MISSION FOR THE STORY MANSION

Vision

From its start in 2009, Friends of the Story Mansion have envisioned a fully restored mansion and carriage house providing critical space for cultural, educational, and social use by the community.

Mission

In collaboration with the City, we offer community activities and events that showcase the current and potential uses for the Mansion and grounds to ensure its’ reuse, maintenance and restoration.

Friends of the Story Mansion is seeking to match tenants with potential space at the Story. We are working to alert the community and donors to the value of restoration for reuse of our nationally recognized landmark."

"Save the Story Mansion" Project Engaged

"By the 21st century turn, the alumni and active SAE’s faced the economic reality of dwindling membership. The house had to be sold! It was a prime target for development; some ventured offers for keeping the house, subdividing adjacent lots and constructing townhouses. Some suggested razing the Story Mansion. “Whoa,” responded the community, including historians, preservationists, architects, the Montana Preservation Alliance MPA, and the National Trust. The Story was one-of-three remaining block-sized mansions in Montana yet to come under public ownership.

In 2003, a courageous move by the Bozeman City Manager brought over $323,000 of city general funds to a rescue of the property. The SAE’s sold the property to the City of Bozeman, and hoped to identify a long-term, non-profit occupant that would be appropriate to R1 residential zoning. The City appointed a Task Force. Their due diligence produced negotiations and an offer to Montana State University MSU. Only seven blocks from campus, it seemed a needed and desirable match. However, MSU could not assume long-term maintenance costs. Four years had elapsed.

In September 2007, a rough business plan by an ad-hoc group, “Save the Story Mansion”, was presented to City Commissioners, outlining how restoration of the 1st floor could, with rentals as public space, cover yearly operation coasts; restoration of the 2nd and 3rd floors, and the Carriage House for anchor tenants, could meet maintenance costs. Restoration into a gracious public gathering space was a concept endorsed by a majority of commissioners in November 2007.

The concept blossomed in 2008. A budding “Friends of The Story Mansion” gathered increasing community support, alongside a City Commission that voted to match the Deportment of Interior waning offer of a Save American Treasures Grant. With each part of the $394,000 match, totaling $800,000 finally in place, restoration began for the 1st floor, and on elements of code requirements for the two upper floors and the basement.

From its start in 2009, Friends of the Story Mansion (FOSM) have envisioned a fully restored mansion and carriage house providing critical space for cultural, educational, and social use by the community."

City of Bozeman Purchases the Mansion in 2003

"By the 21st century turn, the alumni and active SAE’s faced the economic reality of dwindling membership. The house had to be sold! It was a prime target for development; some ventured offers for keeping the house, subdividing adjacent lots and constructing townhouses. Some suggested razing the Story Mansion. “Whoa,” responded the community, including historians, preservationists, architects, the Montana Preservation Alliance MPA, and the National Trust. The Story was one-of-three remaining block-sized mansions in Montana yet to come under public ownership.

In 2003, a courageous move by the Bozeman City Manager brought over $323,000 of city general funds to a rescue of the property. The SAE’s sold the property to the City of Bozeman, and hoped to identify a long-term, non-profit occupant that would be appropriate to R1 residential zoning. The City appointed a Task Force. Their due diligence produced negotiations and an offer to Montana State University MSU. Only seven blocks from campus, it seemed a needed and desirable match. However, MSU could not assume long-term maintenance costs. Four years had elapsed."

1983 SAE Fraternity Photo

"Built in 1910, the Thomas Byron Story Mansion and Carriage House were designed by renowned architect C. S. Haire, known for his work on the Montana state capitol addition. Haire's plan for T. Byron Story, his wife Katherine Ferris, and their five children drew from many architectural styles, including Queen Anne, Shingle, and Tudor Revival. The mansion’s steeply pitched roofs, inviting porch, a semicircular tower, and a covered carriage entrance create a distinctive silhouette. Diverse building materials add visual interest: stone from Bridger Canyon lines the foundation and brick from Hebron, North Dakota, defines the first story. Shingles and false half-timbering decorate the upper stories. One of three Montana mansions occupying an entire block, the 9,000 square-foot, twenty-two-room home cost an estimated $50,000 to build, more than ten times the average Bozeman residence of the early 1900s. T. Byron’s wealth came from management of extensive family holdings. His father was Montana cattle baron Nelson Story. Financial setbacks following World War I caused T. Byron to sell the property in 1922 to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, owners of the property until 2003."

Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) Fraternity Purchases Mansion

"The SAE Fraternity

By 1922, a nexus of national fraternities was established at Montana State College, including Sigma Alpha Epsilon SAE. Housing for students was in-town; none on campus, so fraternal groups sought large residences for growing membership. Although T.B. Story’s house was at $30,000, then a mighty sum, the SAE’s met the asking price, garnering much of that sum from the community. The boys held their prize for the next 80 years!

Fine craftsmanship, materials, and design of the T.B. Story Mansion is credited with its remarkably good condition during 80 years of fraternity occupancy from 1923 to 2000. It survived heavy use for crammed sleeping quarters in the Carriage House and the 3rd floor “ballroom” (elegant under T.B.’s ownership). Credit should be shared between generations of actives who cherished their fine quarters, and the presence of a House Mother who promoted decorum. House mother’s resided in one of 8 bedrooms (study rooms) on the 2nd floor. Throughout the years, fellow students came to know the terrain on the 1st floor and grounds. The Chapter Room in the basement still flourishes the colors purple and white of SAE. Memories abound among the frat boys who lived in the Story Mansion."

Early Family History

"Early Family History

History is story telling — a larger way of looking at life. What better way to begin the tale of The Story Mansion than with Nelson Story, the founder of the Story clan in Bozeman?

The epic life of Nelson Story became the basis for the novel “Lonesome Dove,” a TV series, as well as the film, “The Tall Men.” In 1866, Nelson at age 28 rode his horse from Montana to Texas, and then led a 1,000 head herd of cattle on a 1,500 mile drive from Fort Worth to the Gallatin Valley. He foresaw big opportunities in nourishing Bozeman’s growth and the nearby gold fields of southwestern Montana. With the help of 20 Tejano drovers, 2 carvery, and 3 bullwackers, he outsmarted Jayhawker ruffians in Kansas and Sioux in Wyoming. He soon had a Montana fortune in merchandising, ranching, milling flour, and real estate. He left Bozeman in the late 1800’s for Los Angeles, where another fortune amassed. Nelson Story died at age 88 in 1926.

One of Nelson’s sons, T. Byron Story assumed the Montana business mantle, prospered, and with his wife, Katheryn Ferris, built the Story Mansion in 1910. There, they raised 5 children. While fortune flourished prior to and during WWI, when a need for wool and flour where high, the Story fortune slumped after the war. T.B. Story consolidated by moving the family to the majestic Nelson and Ellen Story mansion. Now, generations after Nelson and T.B. lived there, their Story progeny reside in Bozeman, as does the Story Mansion."