In this last of four installments examining Richardsonian Romanesque
architecture in St. Paul, Minnesota, we will look at two of the treasures this
city has to offer architecture enthusiasts – the James J. Hill House and Laurel
Terrace.
James J. Hill House
240 Summit Avenue
Peabody, Stearns, and
Furber, architects
1888-1891
The largest house on Summit Avenue and in St. Paul is the imposing James
J. Hill House. Hill made his fortune in
the railroad industry, becoming one of its most prominent and successful
advocates. His big break came in 1878,
when he purchased the struggling St. Paul and Pacific Railroad with several
other investors. By 1890, he had greatly
expanded the railroad from Canada to the Pacific Ocean, renaming it the Great
Northern Railway. He was active in
numerous other businesses as well, amassing a fortune estimated at $63 million
by the time of his death in 1916 – truly one of the most powerful figures of
the Gilded Age.
Rear of the Hill House
The house derives its power from its size and massing. Faced in East Longmeadow sandstone from
Massachusetts, the structure contains 36,000 square feet of living space
including 42 rooms (not including 13 bathrooms, a fourth floor theater, and
numerous cellars and storerooms). The
most prominent interior spaces include the reception hall nearly 100 feet long
and the two-story skylit art gallery.
Front entrance beneath porte cochere
It
took three years to complete construction, and the final cost was
$522,000. An additional $400,000 was
spent for the three acres of land, interior decoration, furnishings,
landscaping, separate gatehouse, conservatories, power plant and “mushroom
cave.” At its completion in 1891, it was
the largest and most expensive home ever built in Minnesota.
Hill was intimately involved in the design and completion of his home, rejecting
Tiffany’s designs for the stair hall windows and even dismissing the architects
and hiring another firm (Irving and Casson of Boston) to complete the
interiors. His desire was for a home
that portrayed his success, but was not overly ornate – preferring scale over
excessively detailing to impress visitors.
Even so, the interior contains 22 fireplaces, 16 chandeliers and
elaborately carved oak and mahogany woodwork.
His widow remained in the house until her death in 1921. Four years later, the family presented the
home and some of the furnishings to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul
(Mrs. Hill was a devout Roman Catholic).
It was acquired by the Minnesota
Historical Society in 1978 and has been open to the public since that
time. Tours are offered on a regular basis, and
include the expansive basement level highlighting the work spaces of the large
live-in staff such as the intact laundry room and boiler room.
Basement window design similar to Glessner House
For more information, visit www.mnhs.org/hillhouse.
Laurel Terrace
286-294 Laurel Avenue
Willcox and Johnston,
architects
1887
One of the unexpected surprises in St. Paul is Laurel Terrace, which is
described in the AIA Guide to St. Paul’s
Summit Avenue & Hill District as “one of the finest Victorian row
houses in the United States.” Featured
in several major guidebooks to American architecture, the grouping of seven row
houses is Richardsonian Romanesque at its finest in terms of materials,
massing, and details. It is the work of
William Willcox and Clarence Johnston, local architects whose brief partnership
in the late 1880s produced a number of significant buildings in St. Paul, of
which this is generally regarded as their masterpiece. The
total cost of construction was $75,000.
Laurel Terrace is situated at a skewed intersection of Laurel Avenue and
Nina Street, giving it a commanding presence at a corner that extends greater
than 90 degrees. Centered by a stately
turret at the corner, the Terrace is distinctive both from a distance where the
overall massing can be appreciated, as well as up close, where the numerous
details delight the eye.
The overall emphasis of the Terrace is horizontal with the recessed entry
porches set beneath arches of varying heights in a regular pattern. The second floor consists of groupings of
windows in twos and threes; above that the gables set into the steeply pitched
hipped roof clearly indicate each of the seven apartments. The use of the various materials – sandstone,
granite, and brick – help to differentiate the various levels as well.
Examining the houses up close, one is treated to the rich variety of
ornament applied. From the elaborate
wrought iron of the porch railings to multi-colored stone used for the rosettes
set to either side of the porch arches, no detail was overlooked.
Especially interesting are a series of human
faces set into the column capitals, and fanciful carved creatures appearing at
various points across the façade.
Author F. Scott Fitzgerald occupied one of the row houses as a boy with
his parents and maternal grandmother during 1908 and 1909.
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