Take a look inside

By Thad Kelling of The Montana Standard - 07/08/2005

Paul and Toni Seccomb welcome everyone into their 100-year-old cottage they bought for roughly $3,500 on a county tax sale.

They recently completed a two-year restoration project on the house, and it is one of six homes on the first Dust to Dazzle historic home tour Saturday.

"The historic nature of Butte — that's the first thing you see when you roll into town," Paul said. "Every building torn down changes the character of the place." The Seccombs poured about $25,000 into the one-bedroom house that is now Toni's art studio. They raised the roof, refinished the interior, replaced wiring and a long list of other improvements.

"It was a disaster when we first got it," Paul said. "It took us a while to figure out what we wanted to do." Despite all the new construction, the Seccombs managed to preserve items including the fir wood flooring, much of the siding, the kitchen sink and stove and shrubbery including a yellow rose bush.

"We saved as much of the old stuff as we could," Paul said.

The Seccombs also hauled in old materials from around Butte to help restore the cottage. They got granite slabs for edging from Paul's grandma's house and stairs from a nearby home being remodeled.

Other cost-saving tips Paul mentioned including bargain windows and doing as much of the work yourself as possible. The Seccombs did most of it themselves except for the structural work.

During the tour, they will be available to answer any further questions about restoring the old home. They also have pictures showing the cottage before they started the project.

Similar discussion and information will be available at the five other homes on the Dust to Dazzle tour.

"The goal of the event is to demonstrate that renovation is an important part of the future of Uptown Butte and that there are a lot of people out there that have done it already," said organizer Mitzi Rossillon.

Vendors will be stationed throughout the featured homes. They include the historic preservation technology program at Montana Tech, Butte Insulation, Montana Restorations, Triple S Building Supply, JM Landscaping and NorthWestern Energy.

The event is presented by the Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization and the Butte-Silver Bow Community Enrichment Committee.

"I would like to see us do a home tour every year that is a Dust to Dazzle tour because there is so much renovation going on," Rossillon said.

Reporter Thad Kelling may be reached via e-mail at thad.kelling@lee.net or by phone at 496-5511.