Bair Family Museum
Bair Family Museum
5
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
5.0
36 reviews
Excellent
30
Very good
5
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
1
PJ B
1 contribution
Jun 2021
First of all lets do some 2021 updating. No O'learys Restaurant anymore.
The town of Martinsdale has a newly refurbished Bar that serves Awesome Waygu burgers< fries< onion rings and Pizza! plus many more delicacies.
The Crazy Mountain Inn is more of a Bed N Breakfast these days with the usual Hospitalities and Delicious Foods its been known for over the years> check website.
The Bair Museum, while being updated exteriorly, is Open daily from 10-5pm. Tours daily starting at 10..every hour on the hour till 4. Our Gift Shop is filled with all sorts of things including for the first time this year…Bair Wool items! Do Come See Us!!
The town of Martinsdale has a newly refurbished Bar that serves Awesome Waygu burgers< fries< onion rings and Pizza! plus many more delicacies.
The Crazy Mountain Inn is more of a Bed N Breakfast these days with the usual Hospitalities and Delicious Foods its been known for over the years> check website.
The Bair Museum, while being updated exteriorly, is Open daily from 10-5pm. Tours daily starting at 10..every hour on the hour till 4. Our Gift Shop is filled with all sorts of things including for the first time this year…Bair Wool items! Do Come See Us!!
Written June 22, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SDB545
Helena, MT221 contributions
Aug 2021 • Friends
This place is an extraordinary piece of Montana history. Our docent for the house tour was exceptional, as she actually knew Alberta Bair. Beautiful place.
The museum is a special treat with an impressive collection of art and Native American beadwork.
The museum is a special treat with an impressive collection of art and Native American beadwork.
Written August 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mgalex
Bothell, WA450 contributions
May 2019 • Friends
We had been here before but took friends and it is so enjoyable. Our guide was super and knew lots of history of the family and the antique items in the house. Also the museum has some amazing items that the Bair sisters had collected over the years.
Written May 31, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Karen O
Murrells Inlet, SC9 contributions
Jul 2018 • Friends
The Bair Family Museum is in a part of Montana I am very unfamiliar with. I had read about it several years ago and thought it sounded intriguing. The Red Ants Pants Music Festival in White Sulphur Springs was the perfect opportunity to drive on to Martinsdale, and what a treat to visit this elegant, but very comfortable, historic ranch home. I loved the art, especially the Joseph Henry Sharp’s, the Charles Russell’s, the Edward Curtis’s and the gorgeous Native American pieces. The silver collection was amazing, and all the personal mementos like the inscribed presidential photographs and the family photos were fascinating. The furniture was impressive, though my knowledge of European antiques is nil. The docent tour made the rooms and the family come alive; the book I purchased in the gift shop—The House of Bair by Lee Rostad—was excellent. It would be great to purchase and read prior to a visit. I really loved the whole experience and the opportunity to learn about this family and this history.
Written August 12, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lylelaurie
Bozeman, MT5 contributions
Jul 2018 • Couples
We (myself, my husband and 2 guests from Arizona) drove 90 miles to the Bair Family Museum, July 16, 2018 from Bozeman, MT. The countryside and scenery were beautiful and the Musuem was outstanding!
It was the second time my husband I had visited and were pleasantly surprised by the new art exhibition building, restrooms, gift shop, and the admission cost ($12 for 4 of us).
Docent Jonathan, guided us through the house museum, and did a fantastic job telling the Bair’s story and providing interesting information about the art, artifacts and antiques. He answered our questions and allowed us plenty of time to look at everything. We especially liked learning about the extent of the Bair Trust and the funding it provides for MT student scholarships.
It was the second time my husband I had visited and were pleasantly surprised by the new art exhibition building, restrooms, gift shop, and the admission cost ($12 for 4 of us).
Docent Jonathan, guided us through the house museum, and did a fantastic job telling the Bair’s story and providing interesting information about the art, artifacts and antiques. He answered our questions and allowed us plenty of time to look at everything. We especially liked learning about the extent of the Bair Trust and the funding it provides for MT student scholarships.
Written July 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ryan G
Billings, MT56 contributions
May 2015 • Couples
Tucked in the mountains north of I-90 is a small museum home to art, artifacts, and furniture from around the World. Once home to the Bair family - one of the original wealthy Montana families - the ranch has been converted into a impressive museum. With art from Charlie M Russell as well as several European artists, Native American artifacts, and an impressive collection of furniture including several pieces from Louis the XV, this short venture north off of I-90 is well worth the trip. Also incredibly special is one of the museum's tour guides, Ethel Gale, who knew the Bair family and attended several parties at the ranch and now museum. She is incredibly knowledgeable, funny and full of wit. I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend you ask for her when purchasing a tour of the museum.
Entrance fee is $5 for adults. Once you've completed the tour, head to the Grand Hotel in Big Timber for a proper dinner (if heading east) or the Rib & Chop in Livingston (if heading West).
Entrance fee is $5 for adults. Once you've completed the tour, head to the Grand Hotel in Big Timber for a proper dinner (if heading east) or the Rib & Chop in Livingston (if heading West).
Written May 24, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Taylor
Bozeman, MT274 contributions
Sep 2023 • Friends
Went on the tour. The docent was obviously acquainted with someone in the family, and let that fact be known about every two minutes. Unbearable. Apparently her only claim to fame was a belt buckle that said Champion Barrel Racer. We went into the house and I quickly realized that the Blair family were NOT ranchers, they were ranch owners. And that's all. Their extravagance was absolutely gauche and these were people who did NOT work, but instead, hob-nobbed and used politics to their advantage, which does NOT reflect the true nature of ranchers in the area at the time. They used their house as a storage shed for loot which they purchased overseas, and gaudily displayed in the rooms. They were excessive and overly so. Now the property belongs to a bank, and has been converted into a basic shrine to these nabobs who apparently treated their employees like dung and traveled the world treating other people in the same manner. So you won't be looking at a REAL rancher's home. You'll be looking at the loot shed of a stuffed shirt and his crew of socialite women who basically raped Europe of beautiful art and craft for their own aggrandizement. I do not recommend.
Written October 20, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Liz H
Billings, MT41 contributions
Oct 2019
Always a fine changing showpiece exhibit at the Museum. And each summer a different set of photographs from Edward Curtis' Vol. One through Vol. Five of "The North American Indian." Wonderful. An interesting history of the Bair girls collecting art in Paris. Works by painters Charlie Russell and Joseph Henry Sharp, friends of Bair. A House tour. This is a small museum, locally controlled, though others have wanted to acquire this exceptional Art collection; the locals have prevailed. Come on a summer day and picnic. Small gift shop with some local items. Lovely visit.
Written November 6, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Leslie W
Poughkeepsie, NY890 contributions
Jul 2018 • Friends
Friends encouraged us to visit this on our way from Great Falls to Bozeman, and it was well worth our time. The art includes a number of C. M. Russell pieces, a substantial collection of Native American pieces (blankets, basketry, and the like), an extraordinary photography collection by Edward Curtis, and European paintings. The house museum is no less wonderful, and our docent was extraordinarily knowledgeable about the family (Charles Bair and his two daughters Marguerite and Alberta) and their place in Montana history as well as about the furniture and furnishings of the house itself. It's an immersion into the life of one of Montana's wealthiest and most influential families, and well worth detouring off Highway 89 for a couple of hours. A must-see!
Written July 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tami P
102 contributions
Sep 2017 • Solo
Really nice antiques and paintings. Seems like a waste of money having these great pieces out in the middle of nowhere! They don't get a lot traffic for what they must spend on security and insurance.
Written September 15, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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