Victorian Christmas | Gibson Mansion

By LORI GRANNIS of the Missoulian
Photos by KURT WILSON of the Missoulian

Tom Malikie

Gibson Mansion
823 39th Street

There are a lot of reasons to visit the Gibson Mansion Bed and Breakfast on 39th Street in Missoula: Its home-away-from-home environment, hearty morning breakfasts, nightly turndowns, and oft-held murder mystery parties are just a few of the things that draw guests time and again into the grand two-story home.
On this year’s Holiday Home Tour, booking a room isn’t even necessary, since the price of a single ticket will allow a privileged peek into this 1903 Victorian home in all its Christmas splendor.
Gibson Mansion Bed and Breakfast owners Tom and Nancy Malikie say they love Christmas. During this year’s tour, these innkeepers say they plan to turn their two-story white Victorian B&B mansion into a festive turn-of-the-century tribute to holidays of yesteryear.
Victorian touches – from wide antique-style ribbons and intricate lace, to crystal drops hanging from the branches – will adorn the tree, along with ceramic and glass ornaments made into figurines, such as shoes, umbrellas and Victorian bouffant hats.
The tree will also feature candlelights, and jewelry styled as harvest fruits, such as apples and pears.
“The Victorian design really gives the illusion of stepping back in time,” says Nancy. “No house is better suited to a storybook holiday than this one.”
Damask stockings will be hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that those following the trail of home tours will gain a sense of warmth and nostalgia.
Nancy Malikie remembers the day back in 1979 when plans for a newly constructed gym at Hellgate High School threatened the future of the big white Victorian mansion that once sat on Gerald Avenue.
“It was either going to be demolished, or it was going to be put up for auction,” she said.
When it went on the auction block, real estate investor Howard Horton purchased the big white manor home, and moved it in one piece to its current location on 39th Street.
Two years later, the Malikies purchased it from Horton and named it Gibson Mansion Bed and Breakfast as a nod to local architect A.J. Gibson, who designed the home in 1903 for local pharmacist Gustav Peterson.
Since the home was moved from its original place, it can’t be listed on the National Register of Historic Places until 2029, when the home will have been sitting at its current location for 50 years.
When renovations began, the Malikies weren’t sure how much work would need to go into bringing the home back to its original Victorian condition. But they were committed to restoring authentic flourishes of the period.
Come December, three full days of decorating will transform the home from the outside in, where a 4-foot-tall wreath will adorn the front of the house and pillars will be wrapped with red velvet ribbons.
Inside the home, period antiques and original stained glass, along with copies of photographs of the Gibsons – obtained from the University of Montana’s Mansfield Library – remind Montanans of the value of history and will act as the backdrop to a 19-foot subalpine fir Christmas tree.
“It’s a tall, thin species of tree we cut each year by permit in the Lolo National Forest,” Tom said.
It will sit at the base of the grand staircase amid other holiday finery.
The couple say the mansion is accustomed to being decked out for the holidays, considering the number of private seasonal parties it hosts, and guests it houses during that time.