Dayton's Bluff: Beautiful, historic and vacant

Anthony Lonetree, Star Tribune

This house at 921 Mound St., was built in 1916 and is priced at $75,900. It needs work, said community organizer Karin DuPaul, but it still has its original wood trim and a fireplace on the main floor.

Dayton's Bluff neighborhood in St. Paul has been hit hard by foreclosures. Community leaders hope to rekindle interest with a vacant-home tour.

By ANTHONY LONETREE, Star Tribune

Last update: October 22, 2008 - 12:07 AM

Print this story

Real estate transactions: Search by price and date, as well as street, city and zip code.

More from Homes

In Mayor Chris Coleman's view, St. Paul has few vistas to match what's available to Dayton's Bluff residents on a nightly basis. There's the Mississippi River valley, he says, the downtown skyline and the setting sun.

"It's incredible," the mayor said during a visit last spring to the city's East Side. "This is an unbelievable neighborhood. People need to know that story."

Six months later, Dayton's Bluff activists are preparing again to share that message. Here, they say, is a neighborhood of great views and architecture, and hundreds of vacant homes.

As a result of a foreclosure crisis that has hit the historic neighborhood hard, community leaders are hosting a vacant home tour Sunday that they hope rekindles the enthusiasm that greeted a two-day version of the home-tour event in early May.

At that time, about 300 people visited the neighborhood just east of downtown. Many rode a trolley to and from the 12 vacant houses and duplex units on display.

Seven of the 12 residences eventually were sold, said Karin DuPaul, community organizer for the Dayton's Bluff Community Council, and sales are pending on two others.

"To us, it felt real successful," she said of that first tour. "We were quite happy."

Many of the houses require fixes, but those buyers willing to do the work will find themselves among kindred spirits. This is a neighborhood that values historic preservation. In its July/August issue, This Old House magazine named Dayton's Bluff as one of the nation's 50 best places to buy an old house.

Last week, as she looked over photos of 16 prospects for Sunday's tour, DuPaul pointed to an exterior shot of a two-story house at 921 Mound St., saying she hoped it still would be available when the tour rolls around. Purchases can happen quickly, she said.

The house, built in 1916 and priced at $75,900, needs work, DuPaul said, but it still has its original wood trim and a fireplace on the main floor.

At 711 E. 6th St. is a small white house that might seem out of place among the big Victorians in the area. The shutters, once bright red, are faded now, and a slot for a long-defunct afternoon daily newspaper is situated near the front door.

The woman who once owned the house was a great fan of the color red, DuPaul said, because her mother forbid her from wearing it when she was a little girl.

For Sunday's tour, the Dayton's Bluff Vacant Building Committee hopes to show about half of the 16 prospects, all of which are registered vacant with the city.

Coleman, who was on hand to help launch the first tour, said the neighborhood should be saluted for its creativity. Visitors, he said, will not be disappointed. Said the mayor: "We have a housing stock here that is the envy of other communities across the region."

Anthony Lonetree • 651-298-1545

Recent Homes stories

State law to require new homes to mitigate radon - October 22, 2008

State law to require new homes to mitigate radon - Any new homes built in Minnesota June 1 or later will have to be built with radon mitigation under a new state law. More