Gregory Building, 216 North Broadway, 1920-1922

This lot was not developed until around 1920, when Helen Gregory built a ladies clothing shop here with offices or lodgings on the second floor. As early as the 1890s, however, there was a residence on the adjacent lots, built by Charles Spear. The Gregory Shop remained here through the 1960s. The building is one of the very few Mission Style designs in downtown and is attributed to J.G. Link of the architectural firm Link and Haire. The balcony had Doric columns and French doors leading to the interior. The balcony is now enclosed and the columns are no longer in place.

Historic Name:
Gregory Building
Current Name:
Café.Com

Builder:
unknown

Original Use:
Store, office
Current Use:
Restaurant; apartment

Physical Description:
The Gregory Building is a two story commercial building with Mission style influences. It appears to have been designed by prolific Billings architect JG Link, a compilation of his known work included reference to store/office buildings in 1916 and 1919 for Mrs. Helen L Gregory.

Facing east onto N Broadway, the building is built of common red brick, and faced on the primary façade with white glazed brick. The building is divided into a retail space on the first floor, and an apartment. A projecting tile-roof awning with decorative rafter tails and corner balls crowns the façade. Two short towers rise at each corner. These have pointed profiles with glazed brick coping, and each is trimmed by an inset diamond of matching green-glazed brick.

The storefront has been modernized to some degree. It is a central design with recessed entrance, with a transom banding above it. Glazing is newer and the multipane transom has been covered with wood and a metal grillwork. Above this, an arcaded, recessed balcony once graced the front, with narrow flanking windows below the towers. The balcony had Doric columns and French doors leading to the interior. Keystones, carved sandstone sills, and green brick highlighted openings. The balcony is now enclosed with large fixed glass windows, and the columns are no longer in place.

On the west, the building opens onto a rear alley. Inside the café, high ceilings and wooden flooring remain; brick walls have been exposed.

Historical Associations:
Lot 8in block 57 passed through a couple of owners as undeveloped property during the end of the 1880s. By 1891, the property next door at 218 N Broadway was sold to Charles Spear, who built a home on lots 9-10, and subsequently acquired lots 8, 11-14 as well. Lot 8 was sold to Helen Gregory (later Baldridge), a milliner at 2821 first Ave N. Ca. 1920 she erected this small commercial building designed to house a ladies clothing shop, and offices or lodgings. The Gregory Shop remained here through the 1960s.

The construction of the Acme Hotel, the Montana Power Building, followed by the Montana National Bank and the Masonic Temple during the 1910s anchored development in the 200 stretch of Broadway, and the corridor increasingly became central in the expanding downtown. Storefronts such as this one became intersperse as the downtown grew, and small businesses like the Gregory Shop were commonplace.

Historical and Architectural Significance:
The Gregory Building is an important component in the northern portion of Billings' downtown, linked to the time when commercial area was expanded north from its origins near the NP depot. Functioning in the common pattern of combined retail space with lodgings upstairs, the building continues that pattern, a link to the era when so many people lived and worked in the downtown area.

It is also one of the very few Mission Style designs in the city, certainly within the downtown. Attributed to JG Link, it is an important representation of the range of his work, and of the style. For these reasons, it was included in the Billings downtown survey and recommended for rehabilitation.