Sitting in the dining room of what was once her grandmother’s home, Sue Cummings reminisced about the childhood days she spent there.  

Whenever her social-butterfly parents were out on the town, usually attending square dances, they would drop her off at the house on Fifth Avenue East. There, Cummings had the freedom to entertain herself.  

“My grandmother was a real open-minded kind of person,” Cummings said. “She just turned me loose in the house, and I went and explored every nook and cranny.”   

She remembered perching in the attic, listening to records on a wind-up Edison disc phonograph. 

Like others in the neighborhood, the more than a century-old home was fitted with an expansive front porch for relaxing and conversing with neighbors who passed by. Grand windows allow sunlight to pour into the dining and living rooms of the craftsman-style house.  

The house wasn't just enjoyed by Cummings; it had served as a small hub for community gatherings and parties. When Cumming’s mother was growing up, her and her sister would often put on plays or devise activities to involve the neighborhood kids. 

Built in 1905 by Arthur Hollensteiner, Cummings’ grandfather, the house had become foundational to the family and was the host to Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners. The property eventually fell under new ownership decades down the road. But after nearly 60 years, Cummings bought it in February, returning the house to the family who built it. 

Cummings’ son, David Cummings, now lives there with his wife. 

“It gives me warm, fuzzy feelings to know that my family is back in this house,” Sue said.  

TRAVELING FROM Missoula, Sue's grandfather made his way to Demersville before it became a ghost town in 1891. After Kalispell was established that same year, he opened a shoe store on Main Street with Tom Bogart.  

The Eagle Shoe Co. got its name from a customer looking for new boots but had no money to spare. Instead, he traded a pair of stuffed bald eagles for the new shoes. The birds are considered the oldest mounted bald eagles in the world. One is displayed at the Northwest Montana History Museum.  

Hollensteiner married Jennie Hollensteiner in 1900. Jennie’s maiden name was Stahl. Her family established a brickyard that helped build some of Kalispell’s first brick buildings.  

Arthur died in 1951 when Sue was around a year old. But Jennie continued to live in the house that Sue would spend much of her childhood visiting.  

Sue said the house always seemed to be bustling with family or neighbors coming and going. On Saturday nights, her grandmother would have friends over to watch accordionist Lawrence Welk.   

“She had cable TV, which is a biggie. That meant she got three channels from Spokane,” Sue said. 

She could also indulge in food she didn't eat anywhere else, like mashed avocado on toast for breakfast. The most memorable dish was her grandmother’s cobbler made from cherries plucked from a pair of cherry trees growing in the backyard.  

By 1967, the house was sold to a non-relative. When Sue moved from Seattle back to Kalispell in 1981, she tried to buy the house back, but the owner refused.  

Although David didn’t grow up visiting the house, the many stories his mom shared about it helped him understand its importance. When he and his wife moved back to Kalispell in 2001, they would stroll around the east side of town to keep an eye out for a “For Sale” sign in the front yard.   

Over Christmas in 2024, David’s wife and daughter were walking around the neighborhood to admire the light decorations when they noticed the sign they had been waiting for.  

That night at dinner, they brought up the news to the rest of the family. Despite competing offers, Sue was able to nab the house months later. The family got to spend their first Thanksgiving there since 1967.  

“I’m the only person alive, still, who remembers what it was like to have family in this house,” Cummings said.   

Despite some renovations made over the years, Sue found the house looked the same as it did when she was a child.  Even the piano her grandmother played was returned after residing at another relative’s house in Idaho.  

“Almost 60 years later, this piano has done a round trip of right back where it came,” David said.   

Sue and her son hunched over the dining table, sifting through old photos of past birthday parties and holiday dinners. One showed Sue's mother and aunt as children standing on chairs as they decorate the same fireplace that remains in the living room.  

Despite having never lived there before, David said the house felt familiar. 

“I don’t get too deep into things like that, but it feels like it was meant to be,” David said. 

“Sometimes when I’m leaving town and heading home,” Sue said. “I drive down the street just so that I can look at the house and smile.” 

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].