Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this is one of two mansions built by the Clarks, Williams Senior and Junior, within a block of each other, this one on Broadway, the other on Granite Street, a block northwest.
One of the four "Copper Kings" of Butte in the late nineteenth century was William Clark, also one of the richest individuals both in Butte and in the U.S. at the time. If you're the son of someone like that, this is the type of house you build for your young bride. Ostentatious? Yes. After all, how is one to make good use of 26 rooms? And how long does it take to clean 26 rooms?
Today the building is home to the
Historic Clark Chateau, an arts center and a museum. In the museum are thousands of artefacts and works of various types of art and literature.
Fundraisers are always a part of the itinerary of a museum, and the Clark Chateau is no different. One of its annual fundraising affairs is a tea party, held each year in early summer. This year's (2017) tea party was held at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 24. Two days prior to the event, the Montana Standard gave the museum's event some free publicity with a news article. See excerpts below.
Clark Chateau's 'tea party' fundraiser
unlike all others
Olga Kreimer | Jun 22, 2017
Carson Becker wasn’t interested in the usual kind of tea party.
The Clark Chateau, which Becker has managed since 2015 with Callison Stratton, has seen its share of tea parties in its day, she said — but she wanted to think bigger for the chateau’s annual fundraiser, beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 24.
Instead of petit-fours and clotted cream, the historic mansion will play host to “Drink of the Wise: A Midsummer Night’s Tea Party,” a tour across continents and centuries to uncover the cultural history of tea and its culinary possibilities.
Proceeds will benefit chateau programs and the Caring Aid Fund, which helps feed the hungry in Butte.
The evening’s entertainment will include presentations about kintsugi — the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with decorative lacquer — and wabi-sabi, a Japanese aesthetic philosophy that embraces imperfection as a form of beauty. The chateau’s teen interns will give those presentations.
Another group will present a talk on the connection between tea and feminism...
...The musical group Alas Harum, which plays the Balinese instrument gamelan, will come from Missoula to perform. (They are part of the larger ensemble Missoula Community Gamelan, Manik Harum.)...
...Lake Missoula Tea Company is providing tea for the fundraiser Saturday. Chef Daniel Hogan designed the accompanying menu, which will feature dishes to match regional teas from almost every continent, like flatbread with rose jam and pine nuts to match Lapsang Souchong from China. Tea-infused cocktails will be provided by Headframe Spirits.
From the Montana Standard