Rural families who valued education faced a dilemma when their children graduated from the local one-room school, and many students ended their studies after eighth grade. A lucky few, like Mercedes Lee, moved into town for the winter to attend high school; some came alone and boarded with Kalispell families, while Mercedes came with her parents, Hamilton and Martha Lee, as her older siblings cared for the family’s Milk River ranch during the winter. In 1906, the Lees completed this seven-room home two blocks from the new county high school, which had graduated its first class in 1902. Its wide eave returns, full-length front porch, pedimented entry, and clapboard siding gave character to its Colonial Revival design. Because of its location, the house remained connected to education long after Mercedes graduated from high school. In 1930, printer Ernest O’Neil lived there with his wife, Frieda, their four children, and two female boarders who were teachers.