Every two years, some of the oldest and best-preserved private homes in the Twin Cities open their doors to the public.
They're clustered in St. Paul's Summit Hill neighborhood, the former stamping grounds of local luminaries, including F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Summit Hill tour, a fundraiser for the neighborhood association, is a favorite for house buffs because it features such a smorgasbord of architectural styles, from Queen Anne to Tudor Revival to Spanish Colonial. Homeowners also will be on hand to share what they know about their home's history.
One unique house on this year's tour is a Second French Empire dwelling built in the late 1800s. The style, characterized by mansard roofs with wrought-iron cresting, was modeled on the ornate architecture of Paris during the reign of Napoleon III. "It's kind of a feminine house," said current owner Jessica Stoltenberg.
Over the years, it's been a music school, an apartment building and the home of former Sen. Dave Durenberger. Stoltenberg and her husband have kept Durenberger's "Capitol Room," with its U.S. Capitol wallpaper and antique desk, but have renovated most of the rest of the house, restoring its original features and adding new ones, including stained-glass windows accented with translucent stones.
A highlight is the "jewel box" dining room, a blue-and-gold confection that recently won a first-place design professionals' award. Keri Olson of KOR Interior Design oversaw that makeover, which includes "ballgown" window treatments and intricate ceiling plasterwork. Then there's the "Blue Lady Room," named for the painting over its fireplace.
Also featured on this year's tour is a close cousin to a bygone treasure featured in Larry Millett's "AIA Guide to the Twin Cities." Stonebridge was a 20,000-square-foot mansion and 40-acre estate, designed by Clarence Johnston for Oliver Crosby, founder of Amhoist. The estate was called "St. Paul's Camelot," and Johnston fans consider it one of his greater works. At one point, it was offered by the family as a governor's residence. Instead, the mansion was torn down in 1953, although its entrance gates are now at Como Park.
Stonebridge is gone, but an earlier, smaller version, also designed by Johnston for Crosby, is still standing and will be featured on Sunday's tour. Like Stonebridge, its exterior is golden Kasota stone, and it was considered a model for the grander house to follow.
Owners Jeff Aldridge and Betsy Perry have painstakingly returned the home to its former glory, stripping woodwork and restoring its original formal garden, 100-year-old greenhouse and water lily pond.
