A copper baron’s 24,000-square-foot mansion is hiding in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley: As the story develops

Flickr/Raymond Hitchcock

Montana’s grandest summer home is waiting

Just outside Hamilton, in the long green corridor of the Bitterroot Valley, a 24,000-square-foot Georgian Revival mansion sits under the shade of trees planted more than a century ago. Marcus Daly built this place as a summer escape. Two mountain ranges frame it on either side. And once you’ve walked the grounds, you’ll find that the mansion is only the beginning of what the valley has to offer. Wikimedia Commons/DAN

Marcus Daly struck copper and built a valley

Marcus Daly arrived in Montana as an Irish immigrant and left his mark on it like few people ever have. He made his fortune in copper mining, founded the town of Hamilton, and in 1886 bought an existing homestead just outside town to use as a summer residence. After his death, his widow Margaret hired Missoula architect A.J. Gibson to redesign the house into the Georgian Revival form you see today. That remodel finished in 1910. The mansion sat closed for decades after Margaret died in 1941, until local citizens and a preservation trust stepped in during the late 1980s to restore it. Wikimedia Commons/Montanabw

Seven marble fireplaces and a house full of stories

Step inside and the scale of the place registers fast. The mansion runs across three stories and holds dozens of rooms, with enough bedrooms and bathrooms to house a large family and all the staff that came with it. Seven fireplaces warm the interior, several faced with imported Italian marble. Guided and self-guided tours take you through richly furnished rooms while guides share what daily life looked like here at the turn of the century for the Dalys and the household staff who kept the place running. Original furnishings have made their way back over years of patient restoration. Flickr/Raymond Hitchcock

Walk through one of Montana’s rarest tree collections

The grounds surrounding the mansion are as much a reason to visit as the house itself. The Margaret Daly Memorial Arboretum holds hundreds of mature trees, some well over 100 years old, and it carries a reputation as one of the widest and rarest collections of trees in Montana. It also ranks among the first professionally designed residential landscapes in the state. The shaded lawns and heavy canopy draw people who never even set foot inside the mansion, and on a warm afternoon, there are few better places in the valley to spread out a picnic. Flickr/SheltieBoy

Concerts, craft fairs and weddings on the lawn

Through the warm-weather months, the estate becomes a gathering place for the community.

Outdoor summer concerts fill the lawn under the big trees, and the calendar through the season includes craft fairs, seasonal events and holiday programming. The wide grounds make a popular setting for weddings and family reunions, and for people who come just to tour the mansion, those events have a way of stretching a two-hour visit into an entire afternoon without anyone noticing. Wikimedia Commons/FastilyClone

Granite walls and creek water in Blodgett Canyon

Drive a few minutes west of Hamilton and the Bitterroot Range closes in fast. Blodgett Canyon cuts deep into the mountains, its sheer granite walls and rock spires rising high above the canyon floor while Blodgett Creek runs through the middle of it all. Benches and viewpoints sit along the trail at good intervals, and the trailhead at the canyon mouth is easy to reach from town. Hikers come for the views, climbers come for the rock, and some people bring horses. The canyon handles all of them. Wikimedia Commons/Forest Service – Northern Region

Sandy beach and a waterfall at Lake Como

South of Hamilton near Darby, Lake Como sits against a wall of granite peaks that rise straight up from the shoreline. A sandy swimming beach and boat launch make the lake a summer destination, and a trail wraps the full perimeter with a waterfall waiting at the far west end. In winter, the same area becomes a network of cross-country ski and snowshoe trails. The peaks don’t change. Only what you’re wearing does. Wikimedia Commons/Schmiebel

Skalkaho Falls drops right beside the road

East of the valley, Skalkaho Pass Road climbs into the Sapphire Mountains on a seasonal route that earns its reputation quickly. The road delivers you to Skalkaho Falls, where water tumbles down the mountainside right beside the highway. Pullouts along the way turn the drive into a series of stops, each with a view wider than the last. Mountain ridges and dense forest fill the windshield for most of the route, and the whole thing rewards anyone willing to trade the valley floor for a little elevation. Wikimedia Commons/USFWS Mountain-Prairie

Bald eagles and beavers at Lee Metcalf Refuge

Near Stevensville, the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge spreads across nearly 2,800 acres of wetlands, forests and grasslands along the Bitterroot River. More than 200 bird species have been recorded here, including bald eagles and sandhill cranes. White-tailed deer, beavers and muskrats move through the ponds and marshes, and walking trails with boardwalks bring you close enough to the water’s edge that you don’t need binoculars for everything. It’s a slow, quiet kind of morning, and that’s exactly the point.

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Wikimedia Commons/Raymond Hitchcock

Montana’s oldest permanent settlement in Stevensville

In 1841, Jesuit missionaries built St. Mary’s Mission in what is now Stevensville, and that makes it the site of the first permanent European-American settlement in Montana. The restored chapel, an early pharmacy and a small museum tell the mission’s story, and exhibits go into the history of the Salish people who were already living in the valley long before the missionaries arrived. Volunteer-led tours walk you through grounds that have held up well. Standing there, you’re looking at where Montana, as a settled place, got its start. Wikimedia Commons/Jon Sullivan

Two mountain ranges, golden trees and open road

The Bitterroot Valley runs between two mountain ranges, and in fall both sides light up with color. Highway 93 and the Eastside Highway run the length of the valley floor with views in both directions, while side routes like West Fork Road and Skalkaho Pass pull you into quieter mountain terrain. Golden trees set against gray-blue granite make for a striking combination come October, and deer, elk and eagles are common enough along the way that you start keeping an eye out without really thinking about it. Wikimedia Commons/TownofDarby

Hamilton has farmers markets and room to breathe

Hamilton moves at a different pace than nearby Missoula, and most people who visit come to appreciate that. The downtown is walkable, the Saturday farmers market draws a steady crowd through summer, and the Ravalli County Museum fills in the local history that the valley’s other sites leave between the lines. Marcus Daly founded this town, and his influence shows up in ways both obvious and quiet. It makes an easy base for everything else in the valley, with enough of its own character to justify a slow evening walk before dinner. Wikimedia Commons/DAN

Visit the Daly Mansion in Hamilton, Montana

You can find the Daly Mansion at 251 Eastside Highway in Hamilton. Mansion tours run from June through September, with hours that vary by day, so check the official website before you go. Off-season tours can be arranged by appointment. Admission is modest, with lower rates for seniors and youth and free entry for small children. The grounds include parking, restrooms, a gift shop and picnic tables. Dogs are not allowed on the property, but the Bitterroot River nearby draws plenty of anglers looking to add a few hours to the visit. This article was created with AI assistance and human editing. Read more from this brand:

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The post A copper baron’s 24,000-square-foot mansion is hiding in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley appeared first on When In Your State.