This weekend, The Teen had an extra-credit assignment for Social Studies that lead to some fine tourism and blogging opportunities in the Capitol city of St. Paul. So this week's blog entries will be devoted to history and cuisine in St. Paul. Enjoy!
Our first stop: The James J. Hill house on Summit Avenue.
(photo credit: Minnesota Historical Society)
Hill is one of the quintessential American success stories. With only nine years of schooling, Hill moved to St. Paul at the age of 18 and began working in various companies (steamboats, wholesale grocers, transportation companies) that gave him the experience to launch his own series of companies, most notably the Empire Builder--the connections of railroads that brought the Midwest into reach of the far Pacific Northwest.
His experience didn't give him his attitude, though; he was brutally competitive as well as highly intelligent, and ruthless at growing his own empire, until Theodore Roosevelt enforced antitrust laws against him. Even after his "empire" was broken apart, Hill remained a formidable competitor, amassing millions and millions of dollars.
He also married Mary, a former waitress who became a matron of high society. Together they had 10 children and, ultimately, six homes, including property in Paris. They also became avid art collectors; their heirs eventually donated most of the artwork they owned to the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts.
The Summit Hill mansion was built on two lots overlooking downtown St. Paul and was completed in 1891. From top to bottom, it has 36,000 square feet and was, for its day, up to the minute in technology (including the fledgling world of electricity and gas lighting). Given that the family had several other properties, they spent about three months each year in this home, but it's considered the hallmark property. As well it should be.
This is the formal room, a large space overlooking the Mississippi River (or it would have, in those days--today it overlooks the developments that have grown along the river). This room served as the center point for all formal functions, including several weddings.
This is the Art Room. If you go back to the picture at the top, you'll notice a tall structure on the left side of the home. That's a specially designed and constructed roof to the Art Room, which allows the maximum amount of natural light to arrive in the room, and it also provides space for the massive pipe organ. When the home was being built, Hill was told that the grand families out East were all installing organs in their homes; Hill, of course, could not be outdone.
Because the artwork collected by the Hills has mostly been donated, today the Art Room hosts a variety of exhibitions. On display now is New Deal Art: FDR's works program included not just laborers, but artists, who were commissioned to create artworks for public spaces. This collection is on loan from the Ah-Gwah-Ching treatment center near Walker.
Although the home had two massive coal furnaces, fireplaces were de rigeur, and the Hill fireplaces are things of beauty, heavily decorated with hand-carved wood and meticulously placed mosaics. This fireplace is an example of an early gas fireplace, and the gas log is original.
The main entrance in the home also served as an entertaining space, with dances held here.
To coordinate with the ornate architecture, the furniture was ordered handmade to match. Unfortunately, the heirs took most of the furniture with them, so most of the rooms are now empty. It would be wonderful to see them with the furniture again. Most rooms have photos showing what the rooms looked like with furniture (the family having enough foresight to do that before leaving), although they only took photos of the family's areas, not the servant's areas.
At least there are a few original fixtures, such as this laundry area. The servants had their own sleeping quarters, a sitting room where they were welcome to entertain family and friends, and a huge patio overlooking the river. I overheard a mother telling her young children that the reason that the servants' quarters were not nearly as nice as the family quarters was that the Hills "didn't care about the servants." I don't think that's correct; for the time, the servant quarters were actually very comfortable and respectable. By the standards of the day, the servants were treated very well. They even had their own indoor bathroom, which apparently was something new to many of them.
Mr. and Mrs. Hill had separate but adjoining bedrooms, common for the time, and Mrs. Hill had her own private patio outside her room, again with a lovely view.
I have to admit, I'm a sucker for old mansions. I love to visit them and speculate how people lived, and it ultimately makes me want to learn more about the inhabitants. At the same time, knowing that this massive, beautiful home was only lived in a short part of each year, and knowing that once the Hills were gone, it was no longer a family home (having been given to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul in 1925, which held it until the Minnesota Historical Society acquired it in 1978), makes me a bit sad--how wonderful for a building like this to have housed generations of a family, a real legacy.
Next up: The State Capitol grounds and the various sculptures and memorials that can be found there.
I had no idea that they hosted art exhibits like that! Much less that there was a TB facility that has a collection like that.
Posted by: Miss T | October 20, 2008 at 02:15 PM
Old mansions are pretty intriguing. It's one of the draws of the Hearst Castle, that man definitely LIVED in his house.
(Note to self: James J Hill house goes on the tour of MN when I visit.)
Posted by: Carrie K | October 20, 2008 at 05:22 PM