A new chapter begins for historic Somers mansion

The first time Jasmine Morton visited the mysterious yellow mansion on the hill overlooking her hometown of Somers, she was an intrepid third-grader carrying a tray of cookies in an attempt to get a glimpse inside the local historic landmark.

But when she knocked on the front door of the imposing three-story building, the lights inside the house immediately shut off. It would be decades before Morton—the latest owner to take over the residence since it was built in 1903—would finally step foot inside the now 117-year-old house.

“I’ve been obsessed with it since I was little,” Morton recalled. She remembers walking past the massive property for years, wondering endlessly about the elusive interior. Her parents still live on the original Somers homestead where Morton grew up, and closing on the historic property on Nov. 5 was a dream come true for the Flathead history buff, now a professional in Kalispell.

She’s certainly not the only one who has become fascinated with “The Old Somers Mansion” over the course of its long and eventful life.

“I know there are a lot of people that love it just as much as I do,” Morton said. “I want to have it open so the community can use it.”

That plan likely will require years of rehabilitation work. But if successful, it would be a drastic change for the mansion, which has been cut off from the local community for years by “Private Property—Keep Out” signs, plywood coverings nailed across the windows and overgrown juniper trees shrouding the views of the extensive property.

THE O’BRIEN Mansion was built at the turn of the 20th century for John O’Brien, the original manager of the town’s namesake business, first called the John O’Brien Lumber Co. and, later, the Somers Lumber Company. Architect A.J. Gibson, known for constructing the University of Montana's Main Hall and many iconic Montana institutions, designed the O’Brien residence.

The mansion contains 14 bedrooms across three stories, as well as trios of fireplaces, chimneys, porches, plus a greenhouse, a basement and an attic. Morton said they don’t have an exact measure of the total space, but it’s somewhere close to 8,000 square feet. The hilltop property sits on almost 6 acres of land, with a wash house and carriage house located on-site.

Despite everything the home has to offer, its 14 bedrooms have sat empty for a lot of the mansion’s history. O’Brien and his family left in 1906 after only three years. For a time it was used as a hotel, before the McDevitt family bought it in 1946.

The McDevitts lived there for the next 60 years, and during that time, few outside eyes got a look inside the old home. In 2005, former Miss Montana Christin Didier bought it for about $1.2 million, according to Zillow.

Then began a particularly turbulent era in the home’s history. In 2013, Didier was convicted of insurance fraud and eventually evicted. A few years earlier, a violent storm ravaged the house, leaving it with significant water damage and a heavily damaged roof.

Christy Manson, a California flight attendant, bought the mansion for $399,999 after foreclosure in 2013. Though she intended to revitalize the property, her ambitious plans never came together, and it went back on the market this fall.

Morton and her husband, Justin, bought it in just a few days for the asking price of $890,000.

MORTON SAID it’s been years since anyone other than a few trespassers have passed through the mansion’s doors. But a lot of locals, including the Mortons, have kept an eye on the place all along.

These days, Morton said neighbors usually show up to shoo off any intruders on the property, and the Facebook group Save the Somers Mansion has been ardently advocating for the preservation of the historic home since 2012. The group includes almost 300 members, and Morton said she wants to strike a balance between maintaining the building’s integrity and updating it to a point where it can be a functional property once again.

“We just want to honor the house,” Morton explained.

She hopes the historic mansion eventually could become a venue for events such as weddings and corporate retreats, while her husband likes the idea of taking ghost tours through the spooky home. Morton said she’d like to host some sort of open house event for Somers residents to come check the place out for themselves, but she admitted, “it will require a lot of work to make that happen.”

The ravages of time are more than apparent throughout the expansive home, which has been hard-hit by extreme weather, vandalism and disuse. With the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become especially challenging to find contractors to refurbish the home, so it could be years before it’s ready for use.

Right now, the space is littered with shattered glass, caving plaster and piles of large rusty nails strewn about for a reason Morton has yet to figure out. The home needs a heating system, updated plumbing — there are only three bathrooms for 14 bedrooms — and an electrical overhaul.

On the third floor, the near-total absence of a roof has given way to ruinous water damage and, at this time of year, snow drifts in the corners of the rooms.

But when she walks through the mansion, Morton doesn’t see all that.

“It’s not as bad as people think,” she said. “It’s in shockingly good shape.”

INSTEAD OF decay, Morton sees the mansion’s minute historical details, features that others might not notice, such as the ornate original door knobs that only remain on the third floor, and the premium hardwood flooring that could have only been available in a place with a reliable source of lumber like Somers.

She’s just as intrigued by the mansion’s idiosyncrasies, like a massive wooden panel that has to be heaved upward to access the third floor, adjoining closets with tiny windows peering into one another, and a set of second-floor rooms inexplicably interconnected by swinging doors on kitchen hinges.

“It’s a weird, weird property,” she noted, and it’s unclear if she’ll ever find all the explanations to its one-of-a-kind quirks.

But more than focusing on uncovering the mansion’s lengthy past, Morton is looking toward its future.

In what appears to be a dark, dilapidated entrance scattered with bits of broken railing from the central staircase, Morton envisions a grand entryway into an iconic piece of local history.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I can see it.”

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.