This weeks showcase home is 513 Summit Avenue.
This gem of a Queen Anne Victorian was built in 1887 for W.W. Bishop, a local real estate agent. At a cost of $10,000, it was constructed by Wirth and Haas.
It is one of the only wood-frame houses standing on Summit and has a well preserved polygonal tower. The full facade porch has thankfully not been closed in. The current owners have painted the home in well matched colors, bringing out the architectural details in the woodwork. A
photo of the home in 1973 shows the home without the details highlighted.
Around 1920 is was occupied as Mrs. Charles Porterfield’s Boarding House and frequented by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Today it is once again a single family residence, with the last recorded sale in 1994 for $626,000. It has approximately 8300 square feet and 4-5 bedrooms.
My original post about 318 Summit Avenue gave some basic history of the home that I could uncover. But there is nothing like viewing the home completely refurbished as it most likely appeared when it was originally built. The nice thing is that it now comes with all of today’s luxuries! 
Last week I was able to tour the home for one of its last showings with the American Society of Interior Designers (
ASID) 2007 Showcase Home Tour. Wow, is the only word to describe the home. Not only did the contractors and owners do a superb job at putting the pieces back together from the apartment building it had been converted to years back, but the designers finished the package with their beautiful array of colors, furniture, and accessories.
The original woodwork and moldings are still intact. Finely carved drip molding accents the staircase railing and the library has window moldings carved with the crest and date the home was built.
Original chandeliers hang from the ceilings and it appears the windows are the originals as well. One interesting note is that homes on Summit use to have the kitchens located in the basement, with service delivered via a dumbwaiter. Victorians use to believe that guests would lose their appetite if they smelled the food while it was cooking. So a new kitchen was located in the back of the home where the billiard room use to be.
As you can see from the photos, the home now has some additions that blend in well with the architecture. Two, one car garages were successfully built at the back of the home, with a terrace overlooking the river valley below. Also, the back of the home houses two, three season porches for relaxation and entertainment. Wondering what the dirt basement and previous kitchen became? Well now a bierstein resides there with a bar and wine cellar, as well as a bedroom, bath, and small kitchen.
Bottom line is the owners did a great job of saving this home for future generations to enjoy. If you missed the tour, then you really missed an event. I doubt anyone will get to see the home again until the next time it is listed for sale, which could be for quite a while.
This weeks historic home is 323 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Built in 1892 at a cost of $35,000, this home was built for Edward Nelson Saunders by the famous Clarence Johnston. The Minnesota Historical Society has a
sketch of the home in their archives done by the architect, as well as photos of the home in
1898 and
1973. A previous home stood on the site in 1863 but I wasn’t able to find a photograph of it to post.
The home is a classic example of the Richardson Romanesque style to popular with the architect. It is actually one of my favorite homes on Summit, but it is in desperate need of repair. There are some fantastic details in the porch columns and their ornate capitals, as well as a beautiful stone railing on the third level of the front facade.
I am not one hundred percent sure but I think the home is currently a residential residence. At one time it was uses as the Cathedral Convent.
This weeks showcase Historic Home is 260 Summit Avenue.
Built in 1902 by the famous Clarence Johnston, the home was designed for Louis W. Hill, the son of James J. Hill, who’s own large mansion was just a few houses down the street.
As you can see, it looks as if there are two homes in front of each other. The
original house at the back with the gambrel roof was built in the Georgian Revival style in 1902. Needing more space, the front addition was added in 1912 giving four guest bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor, and a grand ballroom on the second level. The front portico was saved and moved from the original spot to the front of the new addition. Combined together, the home has a total of about 25,000 finished square feet!
The home has had many uses over the last century. When Louis Hill died in 1948, the home was sold to the Roman Catholic educational guild, and then bought in 1961 by the Daughters of the Heart of Mary and used as a retreat. It went mostly untouched until 2001 when it was purchased by a local family and restored to its original splendor (at a purchase price of $1.7 Million). They currently use it as their primary residence and rent space out for special events.
Local history has F. Scott Fitzgerald attending a party here once. A costume ball held at the mansion even found its way into his story, “The Camel’s Back”.
If you have always wanted to see a newly restored historic home in St Paul, now is your chance!
From May 18th – June 17, the Cass Gilbert designed home at 318 Summit Avenue will be open for tours almost everyday. It is the American Society of Interior Designers showcase home this year and a lot of work has been put into the home. In case you don’t know alot about the home, see my post on Summit Avenue Historic Homes, where each week I highlight one home on the Avenue in St Paul.
You can tour the home at your leisure, pay to attend a guided Historic Tour, or attend a Wine & Dine event on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Author Larry Millet will be giving a presentation in June, and on select Sundays, enjoy an acoustic concert. Check out the event calendar and purchase tickets by visiting the ShowCaseHome website. Whatever you do, make sure to see it while you can. I doubt this home will sell to the public for decades to come!
It could be if you purchase a historic home without doing your homework first. This post is a follow on to my first post Is this Your Money Pit, which featured the exterior problems to look for in your Minneapolis historic home purchase.
Remember Tom Hanks in the “Money Pit” and all the neat discoveries they found in the inside of the home? I specifically like the staircase problem and the tub falling through the ceiling. It was funny, right? Well, it is, until it happens to you. Here’s some advice on what to look for should you be thinking of buying an older home. 
The house in these photos was a historic home we owned and planned on moving into upon completion. It started out great. Projects were going well, until a major Category 4 Hurricane hit. After that, it became a huge money pit. So my advice comes from first hand knowledge on this project and a couple others we have done as well.
So a couple things to look for on the Interior should be:
- Water Stains – stains can be found most commonly in these two places, ceilings and floors. Ceilings usually indicate a leaky roof and that the whole ceiling will need to be replaced. Floors mean either the ceiling has leaked so much onto the floor that now the floor is warped, or that a pipe from a bathroom, water heater, or kitchen is broken. If a pipe is broken, it could mean tearing out the walls to find the source, and if you don’t find it right away, the cost to find it adds up and up and up.
- Slopping Floors – walk into the home and take a good look at the floors. You will be able to see slopes easily by looking at the baseboards and the floors relation to them. Walk on them and you can tell if you go downhill. Start thinking of foundation problems, or settling issues. We have even seen supporting beams cut to put a pipe through, thus causing floors to sag under the unsupported weight.
- Charred Attic Trusses – many historic homes used coal fireplaces instead of wood. The burning embers would sometimes leak through chimney mortar and cause attic fires. In the home above, during the inspection we found a 2200 square foot third level was completely charred. The good news was that by speaking with neighbors, the fire had been 60 years before and the wood was so thick that the fire barely affected the structural integrity. You might not be so lucky and find the damage was so great that the entire truss structure must be replaced.
- Original Plumbing & Wiring – if the home still has cast iron pipes and the original electrical system, then you are in for a huge cost to replace these items. But to do a project right and to keep the old wiring from burning the house down, they really need to be replaced. For a 4000 square foot home, it might cost you $15,000 for the electrical and another $15,000 for the plumbing, and that is just to install it. It doesn’t include building the bathrooms, or installing fixtures.
- Wall and Trim Paint – take a good look at the paint on trim and determine how thick it is. Over the last hundred years there is no telling how many coats have been applied and how much of it is lead based paint. Lead based paint is a health hazard if ingested, especially by young children. It is best to get rid of all paint in the home through stripping (a timely & costly process). But once the original wood is revealed, sanded, and stained, the value of the home has greatly increased in the eye’s of a buyer.
- Cracks in the Walls – if you see alot of cracks in the walls, beware! Most likely the walls are the original plaster and have been taped repeatedly over the years. As soon as you go to hang a picture with a nail, the “walls will come tumbling down”. Replacing the plaster is expensive as most likely you will have to use thicker Sheetrock and account for the higher ceilings. Sometimes the cracks are also a sign of settling issues or structural problems. Best to have a contractor take a look at it to assess any problems.
- Cracked Windows, Rotten Sashes, Broken Pulleys – if the original windows are still in the home, make sure to open each window. Check for rotten wood around the frame and on the sashes and cracked windows. If the window won’t open, chances are the rope pulleys are broken and need to be repaired. See the costs starting to add up?
- Non-original Additions to Home – additions can add much needed square feet, but they can also take away from the original design of the home. The top photo shows an area to the right with new exterior siding. This is where an addition was added to the home in the 60’s to add a kitchen and studio (we converted it back from 5 units to single family). We had to remove this part which cost $10,000. After the demolition we found all kinds of rotting beams and shady construction, so beware the possible problems hiding behind an addition. We found a supporting beam under the home was completely eaten through by termites, something that would not have been found had we not removed the addition.
This post just covers some of the interior parts of a historic home that you should pay attention to if planning on purchasing in the future. There is no telling what you will find when you buy historic real estate in Minneapolis or St Paul, so do your homework. Get a home inspector that specialized in older homes to thoroughly look over the inside with a fine tooth comb or you might be making your own “Money Pit” movie.
This weeks Historic Home in St Paul is 490 Summit Avenue.
One of many homes designed by C.H. Johnston on Summit, this home was built for A.G. Foster in 1883. Foster later became a United States Senator when he moved from Minnesota to Tacoma, Washington, leaving his lumber business behind.
The style is best described as Richardson Romanesque which can be seen in the multiple-grouped windows in the front step gable, the arched windows, and the masonry exterior.
The home originally cost only $23,000 to build. With approximately 8500 square feet, it boasts 7 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and 7 fireplaces. For the last 50+ years the home as been host to catering businesses and weddings. The original carriage house still exists as does the interior decorative woodwork. The glassed in area on the top left of the home was originally an open porch.
The home has been on the market recently for around $1.5 Million, but is currently off the market. View a photo of the home as it appeared in 1888.
This weeks historic showcase home in St Paul is 705 Summit Avenue.
Built in 1898 for Jacob Dittenhofer, this Medieval style home was built by the famous local architect Cass Gilbert. Mr. Dittenhofer was a partner with the Golden Rule Department Store in downtown St Paul and built the home for a mere $15,000.
The home displays characteristics of Gothic architecture in the arches on the verge boards of the dormers and elaborate capitals on the porch columns. Another beautiful detail is the front second story window with its Gothic window stone arches and original leaded glass.
It is always best to view this home in the winter, as it is covered by vegetation during the summer and many details are hidden from site. Currently it is used as multi-family apartments with about 13,000 total square feet.
