It's round three for one of the most storied pieces of land in the Twin Cities.
A century ago, at the corner of Lake of the Isles Parkway and West 25th Street stood the largest house ever built in Minneapolis — the Gates Mansion, a three-story, Italian Renaissance splendor that disappeared in the Great Depression. In 1958, a single-story home rose on the same property in the sleek, then-new style that became known as midcentury modern.
Last week, that house also came down to make way for a third one that will have a smaller footprint and leave more green space along the parkway.
Hundreds of houses have been torn down around the city in recent years, replaced with bigger ones by people who find it too costly to maintain or upgrade an existing house. The action at 2505 E. Lake of the Isles is both an extreme example of the phenomenon and reminder that it's nothing new at all.
The lot and home cost $3.5 million to buy and the new owners will likely spend millions more for the teardown and to build the 8,800-square-foot house they proposed to city officials. "When a house like this one gets torn down, you hope the replacement is of good quality, but this is just part of the natural process," said Larry Millett, an architectural historian. "It's also in a real way a sign of the vitality of the neighborhood."
The ultra-mod house demolished last week was designed by Chicago architect Henry L. Newhouse Jr. for Twin Cities businessman Arthur Melamed. Rhea and Fred Isaacs, who had been chairman of American Iron & Supply Co., lived in it for three decades and completely remodeled it in the late 1980s. The house was known for its massive atrium with a white grand piano visible from Lake of the Isles. There was a large car parking area, several patios and a big pool that occupied much of the yard.
When the Isaacs decided to sell the house several years ago, it was the city's most expensive listing. But as with other multimillion-dollar properties, it took several years to find a buyer. "It could have been remodeled, but it needed so much renovation — why not start anew?" said Debbie McNally, the listing agent on the house.
As the house came down last week, crews dug into what was once the foundation of the far larger mansion. It was built by Charles Gates, a financier and son of the founder of a steel and wire company that in 1901 became part of U.S. Steel. In 1911, he married Florence Hopwood of Minneapolis and agreed to build a house they would live in during summer and fall, while spending the colder months in Florida.