Charles and Mary Olson had prospered during their first decade in Sandpoint after
moving the family from Rhinelander, Wisconsin in 1903. So in 1915 he
bought the house on the southwest corner of Church and Fourth, demolished
it, and hired architect and builder
H. L. Mountjoy to build his new home. Mountjoy built an Arts and Crafts
bungalow of one and a half stories, liberally using old growth
Douglas-fir for the interior woodwork.
The younger daughter, Judith (far
right in family picture), was married in the house in 1924.
The Olsons sold the house in 1935 to William and Maybelle Nieman,
heads of a prominent Sandpoint family who owned a soda fountain in town
and, later, a florist shop and music business on Cedar Street. Like Judith
Olson, the Nieman's daughter was married in the house.
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