North America / USA / Montana / Southwestern Montana / Butte and Anaconda / Best Attractions

Copper King Mansion

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Frommer's Staff

This combination museum and bed-and-breakfast inn is an ideal choice for those who want to savor the historical ambience of one of the most lavish homes of the late 19th century. The huge home was built for mining magnate William A. Clark in 1888 for $260,000. There are 34 rooms on three floors, decorated in a lush "modern Elizabethan" style. While the inn's exterior has seen better days, the interior features remarkably intricate woodwork and a large number of opulent pieces of period furniture collected by the inn's owners. There are even a few original items from the period of Clark's ownership. In the third-floor ballroom, there's an 814-pipe Estey organ as well as a private collection of clothing and memorabilia dating from the late 1800s; a small chapel is discreetly located to the side.


The guest rooms ($65-$115 nightly) are in general spacious and furnished with antiques. There are parquet floors downstairs, and the octagon-shaped reception room, the billiard room, and the library all reflect Clark's love of luxury. Antique lamps and chandeliers, ornate frescoed ceilings, and etched amber transoms complement the rooms' original furniture, including two matching African mahogany sleigh beds. If you stay at the B&B, you can sleep in the copper king's room, but you have to get up early and leave when the tours begin at 9am.