Montana Ritz: the Bair Home in Martinsdale

Out in the beautiful countryside of Meagher County, among the scattered ag operators, just on the edge of Martinsdale, is a very well-kept ranch mansion with an additional art museum.

This is the Bair Home, the final residence for the wealthy Charles M. Bair, his wife Mary and daughters Marguerite and Alberta (yes, the Alberta the theater is named after).

A guided tour of the home is well worth the two-hour drive from Billings and a $5 admission.

How did Bair become wealthy?

Charles M Bair made his fortune from two sources.  His sheep operation expanded from 20,000 to 300,000 head.  But he actually sold the 20k and invested in permafrost thawing machines in Alaska during the gold rush.  He returned richer and back into sheep and ran up to 300k head.   Add in stock investments and a frugal lifestyle, and their wealth grew substantially.

Charles and Mary expanded the home as a ranch outfit and brought a couple Charles M. Russell original art and also from Joseph Henry Sharp.  After their passing, Marguerite and Alberta made a dozen trips to Europe and brought back silver pieces, furniture pieces and sketches of decorating ideas for craftsmen to duplicate.  This is where the remodeling and opulence really started.  The tour guide mentioned that for years there were homebuilders and electricians working on the home every day up into the 1970s.

The Bair Home is a true early-20th-century Montana mansion.  This is the western equivalent of the Gilded Age estates in Rhode Island and the east coast.

But the barn museum includes items and pictures from the original homestead.  And between the house and barn is the original root cellar.

Fall Hours after Labor Day

You have only two months left this year to tour this fabulous facility.  After Labor Day, the hours will be 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.  Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

After October, the Bair Home will be closed for the winter.

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