The times are changing, but on the corner of Fourth and Absaroka streets one house has weathered this change, likely since before Powell was officially formed. 

The house, purchased by Kolten Hunter in July, was built in roughly 1906. The town was founded three years later, and Hunter said he has even been told photos of the home exist in the Homesteader Museum.

This wasn’t the only interesting evidence of the house’s age, Hunter also found that the insulation that did exist was horsehair and old newspapers. He even found love letters and scraps of newspaper articles stashed away for safekeeping. Hunter said he believes the owner of the love letters is still in the area and wants to return them to her.

“It’s funny, a lot of my guys couldn’t read this because they can’t read cursive,” Hunter said.

Lots of things can change over a hundred years years. If one were to walk into the house they would see bare beams waiting for insulation and old material piled in the living room. Hunter and his family aren’t discouraged by the work, in fact renovations had already begun on the over 100-year-old home when he bought it.

“I love putting my own mark on things and making it my own, buying a little fixer upper. It’s a lot more work, but we just fell in love with the house,” Hunter said. “And one of the main reasons why we fell in love with this house is the front has the double dormers [a dormer is a window that comes out from a sloped roof] on it that has that curb appeal.”

Hunter and his wife, Bethany, who have a 1-year-old daughter, also wanted to find a home with a large yard that she and the family dog could safely play in.

“So when we first started and we really got to work on it, we would put out a blanket and my wife and my kid would be out doing a picnic in the shade and just enjoying the property,” Hunter said. “And that was one thing that really made us fall in love with this property.”

Hunter is doing a remodel in two phases and hopes to be able to move his family into their “forever home” by the new year.

“The first one is going to be just the bedrooms, the master bath, and I’m adding a full bath on this main level,” Hunter said. “And then the second half will be the kitchen and the wiring was so old that we’re having to re-wire and re-plumb the whole place.”

Hunter and his family are handling most  of the renovations themselves with the exception of the framing and vents for the sewer system. To tackle the extensive electrical work that needs to be done Hunter is enlisting the help of some electrician friends who will assist in the rewiring.

The goal isn’t to keep only the house’s shell and throw away the history inside, but to make the home more livable and add their own touch to a house that has overseen generations and generations of owners.

“It’s a good project. It definitely keeps me busy. I was very happy about seeing these wood floors. I’m going to try and sand and refinish and try and keep as much historical value in this house as I can,” Hunter said. “I don’t want to take away from the history. I just want to make this place a little bit more livable.”