About Saint Paul's Summit Hill

* I orginally featured this home on my luxury blog, last April. Since then, the home even looks worse when you drive by it, which is what I did today. Sparkly winter snow doesn't even help.

This weeks featured historic home is located at 475 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, MN.

Why is it that I am always saddened when I walk by this home? Probably because it looks to be slowly deteriorating, but I could be wrong. Originally built somewhere between 1880-1883, this simple Queen Anne was commissioned by James Gamble, and designed by George Wirth. Mr. Wirth built six homes on Summit Avenue.

The exterior is constructed of stone, the home has most of its original features. The front bay window on the second floor has been altered, but the most significant change came to the front porch, only a decade after it was built. The Victorian styled lattice porch was changed to a more Richardson Romanesque style porch made of stone, which can be seen in the photos below.

Here are some photos of the home as it appeared in 1888, 1890, 1900. According to public records, the home has over 7000 square feet with 10 bedrooms. It is currently used as apartments.

This weeks feature is not of a home, but of a historic building called Woodland Terrace in St. Paul.

Located on Dayton Avenue, the row house was built in 1889, supposedly by B.J. Buechner. They were renovated in the 1980s and updated with new mechanicals, etc. The building really is amazing once you get a closer look. The patterned brickwork and small stone carvings throughout, including the arched entry ways, really make the building "pop". At first glance, the buildings look Richardson Romanesque because of the stone work, but when you look at the gables, balcony design, windows, and roof line, Queen Anne Victorian screams out at you.




There is currently one unit for sale through Coldwell Banker for $645,000. To give you an idea on size, the four level unit has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and around 2700 square feet. Many people compare these units to those found in New England Brownstone row houses.