Written by BETSY COHEN
Photographed by LINDA THOMPSON

His name is Jeff Rolston-Clemmer, but this Missoula home remodeling and design expert might as well go by the name “Mr. Woodworth.”

Over the past few years, Rolston-Clemmer has quietly plied his talents helping homeowners make the houses they love even better.

Although he’s worked on countless homes throughout Missoula, Woodworth Street has become Rolston-Clemmer’s professional home so to speak, his calling card.

In this University of Montana neighborhood, east of Higgins Avenue and south of Beckwith Street, Rolston-Clemmer has transformed six of the houses in the best ways possible – by word of mouth and by coincidence.

“I don’t think any of the homeowners I have worked with recommended me to one another, although I know they all have recommended me to other clients,” Rolston-Clemmer said. “It just sort of happened that I ended up doing so many of the homes on this street.”

Technically, two of the homes are on Ronald Avenue, but before the remodels and because they are corner lots, the homes originally had Woodworth Street addresses.

Like most older neighborhoods, this part of Missoula has a diverse sampling of early 19th century homes, Depression-era bungalows, 1940s starter homes and a hodgepodge of more modern “family” houses built between the 1950s and 1970s.

Eclectic, yes. Cookie-cutter no.

“One of Jeff’s greatest gifts is that he knows how to keep the details of the original architect – and despite even changing the size of a home, he still knows how to make the home fit into the neighborhood,” said Emily Greenwald, one of Rolston-Clemmer’s Woodworth Street clients.

“Jeff was referred to me by a friend, and when he came and walked through my home for the first time, I could tell he appreciated the unique characteristics of the house and he appreciated the bones the house had,” she said. “He is very thoughtful and respectful of the original structure and to what his clients want.”

Rolston-Clemmer is so attuned to the history of the homes and their distinct place and presence in the neighborhood, it would be difficult for anyone to guess which homes he designed from any of the street’s many remodels, said Kathi Nickel, who hired Rolston-Clemmer to give her Ronald Avenue home a stunning front porch.

One of the things she admires is the fact that Rolston-Clemmer doesn’t “stamp” his work or give it his own signature.

“He happens to be very creative and really works with people to give them what they want, so all of his houses are quite unique,” Nickel said. “I think he is incredibly thoughtful and philosophical about his work, and he deeply considers things like does the house match the homeowner’s personality, do the furniture and house colors reflect their lifestyle?”

Born in Billings, Rolston-Clemmer returned to Montana in the late 1990s after finishing his architecture degree at the University of Arizona.

Because he didn’t take his licensing exam, Rolston-Clemmer calls himself a designer, not an architect, and with his company, Habitare Design Studio, he specializes in home remodels.

“He is quite the accomplished draftsman,” Nickel said, “and he sees all the hidden obstacles, especially the houses with dormers and strange rooflines.”

From a philosophical standpoint, Rolston-Clemmer is a designer who is reluctant to overhaul a home to the point that it no longer reflects its origins or style.

“I strongly feel that it rarely works to convert one style of a home into something else,” Rolston-Clemmer said. “And usually, someone has bought the house because they like it.”

The fun and challenge of remodeling, he said, is “figuring out what are those qualities and features, figuring out how to improve the things that aren’t working, and making changes so the rest of the neighborhood doesn’t hate you when you are done with the project.”

Now, because he has had so much experience working with many of the 1930s- and 1940s-era homes on Woodworth, Rolston-Clemmer said he has an intimate knowledge of the original construction of these typically small-footprint homes.

“Anymore, I know what to expect before I ever walk into a home in this part of town,” Rolston-Clemmer said. “Usually there is a very small kitchen, two small bedrooms and one bathroom. Doorways are narrow and there are few closets.

“I appreciate small homes, but functionally they don’t mesh well with how we live today,” he said. “You can’t really entertain because there is no dining room or it is far too small.”

Yet despite the physical restrictions of these older homes, bigger is not always better and newer isn’t always the answer.
Rolston-Clemmer knows this, and that’s why he specializes in remodels.

“So many people fall in love with their neighborhood, and love their homes,” he said. “They just want them to work better and I see no reason to fight that.”

David Schafer, a Woodworth Street homeowner and remodeling first-timer, was initially reluctant to spend money to pay for a designer when he and his wife Deanna were looking to significantly enlarge and update their home a few years ago.

 “We, of course, had some ideas about what we wanted to do and Jeff walked through the home, listened to us, and then he took our ideas and made them so much better,” Schafer said.

When Rolston-Clemmer suggested the best way to create a larger dining area was to add eight feet to the house, the Schafers swallowed hard but took their designer’s advice.

“He was spot on,” Schafer said. “His advice was great.”

Immediately after and with each passing day of living in their remodeled home, which also included kitchen and mud room additions, and both a main floor and basement remodel, Schafer said he couldn’t be happier.

“When we first started on the project, I thought hiring a designer or an architect was an expensive thing to do, but at the end of the project, we realized it was money very well spent.”

“We wanted to stay in the neighborhood because we really like it,” he said. “And the house we have now is the house we want.”

Betsy Cohen is a reporter for the Missoulian. She can be reached at
(406) 523-5243 or by email at
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Linda Thompson is a photographer for the Missoulian. She can be reached at
(406) 523-5270 or by email at
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