Historic Ketterer Building

Ketterer Building

Emil Ketterer started his blacksmith business in Bozeman in 1878, and eventually became well known for providing excellent work on horseshoes, buggies, sleighs, delivery wagons and express wagons.

While in Bozeman he built his home, a substantial 2 1/2 story brick Victorian, on the corner of Grand and Mendenhall right across the alley from his shop. The home is an example of the Vernacular Victorian style, a sub-style of the late Victorian era. The massing of the structure is centered around a square core with addition of service units and enlargements that results in an agglutinative character. The structure as a whole manipulates building materials to express its particular aesthetic, while the variety of materials create a surface rich in texture, shadows, and highlights.

In 1981 the Goetz firm relocated its practice to the historical Ketterer home. Over the years, the law firm’s stewardship of this building has been recognized by the Bozeman Historic Preservation Advisory Board. The photographs depict the historic Ketterer building and the adjacent new building.