History of Glensheen
Glensheen Mansion was built between 1905-1908, a 39-room mansion resting on a 12-acre estate along the shore of Lake Superior. This was home to Chester and Clara Congdon, along with their six children and nephew: Walter, Helen, Edward, Marjorie, Elizabeth, Robert, and Alfred. The mansion was designed in the Jacobian Revival style by Clarence H. Johnston Sr., a well known architect in Minnesota during that time along with the help of interior designer William A. French who designed the home in a mix of styles, including Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, late Victorian, and Federal styles, making Glensheen feel elegant and sophisticated yet still warm and lively as a family home.
Shortly after it was built, Clarence H. Johnston Sr. published photographs of the mansion in the April 1910 issue of Western Architect, an architectural magazine highlighting notable new buildings across the Midwest. Decades later, when Glensheen was donated to the University of Minnesota and opened as a historic house museum in 1979, these photographs became valuable references that helped staff preserve the original layouts of the rooms. Today, Glensheen is valued at $30 million and boasts elegance of Minnesota's Gilded Age.
Explore more about the history of the estate, the Congdon family and staff, and what life was like in the early 20th century in Duluth.