Red brick doesn’t usually stop traffic in Idaho, but one small house on a downtown side street has outlasted nearly everything built around it. For more than a century, its rooms sheltered a merchant’s family and then a long parade of sheepherders who crossed an ocean to work the hills.
Today the old place is part of the only museum of its kind in the country, and the story inside it is still being told. Stepping through its door feels a bit like finding a family photo album you never knew your state kept.
A Survivor Made Of Brick
Stacked brick, tall narrow windows, and a modest front porch make the little house at the center of this story easy to walk past. Built in 1864, it is the oldest surviving brick residence in Boise, and it now anchors the Basque Museum and Cultural Center in the heart of the Treasure Valley.
The museum opened its doors in 1985 with a clear job: preserve, promote, and carry forward Basque history and culture across Idaho and the wider American West. It holds a distinction that surprises many first-time visitors…