Minnesota as a state is chalk-full of history. Even before gaining statehood in 1858, people were settling here as the milling and logging industries boomed. Settlements and homes were popping up everywhere, one trying to be grander than the next. Let’s take a look at some of the most beautiful historic homes in our great state! Check out our blog for the pros and cons of owning one of these beauties!

James J. Hill House

One of the most famous historic houses in Saint Paul, this home was built by railroad magnate James J. Hill and completed in 1891. The house, for its time, was very large and was the "showcase of St. Paul" until James J. Hill's death in 1916. It boasts some of the best downtown and Mississippi River views in the area. The top photo on this page is a photo taken during construction of the home.

Governor’s Mansion

Sticking in the same area of the James J. Hill home, the Minnesota Governors Residence was originally designed and built as a private home for Horace Hills Irvine, a St. Paul lumberman and lawyer. The first building permit was issued in 1910, and construction was completed in 1912. The two youngest daughters of Horace donated the home to the state of Minnesota.

Swan Turnblad Mansion

In 1903, Turnblad commissioned the building of a mansion on Park Avenue in Minneapolis. Turnblad had the Minneapolis firm of Boehme and Cordella design a Châteauesque-style 33-room mansion for him, his wife, and their daughter. Built on a combination of six city lots, the home cost $1.5 million ($41.8 million in 2018) and took four years to complete. The Turnblad family only lived in the home until 1929, when they donated it to the American Institute for Swedish Art, Literature and Science - now known as the American Swedish Institute.

The Burwell House

Charles H. Burwell (1838–1917) was the secretary and manager of the Minnetonka Mills Company, the first mill west of Minneapolis, around which grew the first permanent Euro-American settlement in Hennepin County west of Minneapolis.

Purcell-cutts house

Built by the Purcell family in 1913, the dwelling is a notable example of Prairie School architecture. It features a long, narrow floor plan that disregards Victorian concepts about room divisions. It was designed by the Minnesota firm of Purcell, Feick and Elmslie, the second most commissioned firm of the Prairie School, after Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Glensheen Mansion

One of the more notorious homes on the list due to the murders that occurred in the home in 1977. Chester and Clara Congdon built Glensheen between 1905 and 1908 as their home. This influential family is known for opening up iron mining in this region and setting aside land for public use, such as the North Shore Scenic Highway and Congdon Park.