Stephen Gilpatrick arrived in Montana aboard the steamboat Alone on the eve of the 1863 gold rush to Alder Gulch. After mining disappointed him, he moved to Last Chance and with a partner opened the camp’s first stationery store. His 1867 marriage to Luella Fergus, daughter of pioneer James Fergus, brought the couple to a miner’s cabin now known as the Pioneer Cabin, Helena’s oldest documented dwelling. In 1875 they built this home as a simple brick cottage with gingerbread trim, one of the first houses in the neighborhood and then considered far from town. The Gilpatricks raised four sons there, and Stephen served the community as a commissioner during Helena’s incorporation, county sheriff, county assessor, and school board chairman. In 1902 the family held James Fergus’s funeral there. On New Year’s Day 1931, Stephen and Luella celebrated their sixty-fourth wedding anniversary, but Luella died in February, ending their long romance. Stephen then sold the property to Swedish immigrant John Root and his wife, Jennie. Root, another early Helena resident, had operated a successful confectionery and clothing store and helped many prospectors with grubstakes. The Roots remodeled the Victorian-era house into a Cotswold cottage, while its original footprint, roofline, and window placements remained intact and the updated style reflected twentieth-century architectural trends.