William Sauntry House and Recreation Hall

Last updated
William Sauntry House and Recreation Hall
William Sauntry House.jpg
The William Sauntry House from the southeast
USA Minnesota location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location626 4th Street and 625 5th Street North,
Stillwater, Minnesota
Coordinates 45°3′40″N92°48′47″W / 45.06111°N 92.81306°W / 45.06111; -92.81306 Coordinates: 45°3′40″N92°48′47″W / 45.06111°N 92.81306°W / 45.06111; -92.81306
AreaLess than one acre
Built1881–83, 1902
Architectural style Queen Anne/Moorish Revival
MPS Washington County MRA
NRHP reference No. 82003080 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 20, 1982

The William Sauntry House and Recreation Hall is a historic property in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, consisting of a late-nineteenth-century house and a 1902 addition styled after a Moorish palace. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for its local significance in the themes of architecture and industry. [2] It was nominated for its association with prosperous local lumberman William Sauntry (1845–1914) and for its fanciful recreation hall, one of Minnesota's best examples of a folly and a rare use of Moorish Revival architecture. [3] Now in separate ownership, the recreation hall has been restored as a private home while the William Sauntry Mansion operates as a bed and breakfast. [4]

Contents

Description

The generally rectangular form of the mansion is complicated with gables and hip roofed bays. It is generally Queen Anne in style, but has Eastlake movement millwork, an Italianate tower, and Gothic Revival details on the gables. [5] The lower levels have horizontal siding while the attic level boasts fishscale shingling. A large porch with Corinthian order columns wraps around the front of the building. [3]

The recreation hall from the southwest William Sauntry Recreation Hall.jpg
The recreation hall from the southwest

Aligned directly behind the mansion is the recreation hall. This rectangular addition was originally attached to the main building by an enclosed second-level walkway. The exterior is stucco with inlaid stones. The roof is hipped with wide eaves supported by triangular brackets. An entrance from the side street is topped by a gabled dormer featuring a Palladian window with Moorish details. The recreation hall once housed a ballroom, reception hall, bowling alley, and swimming pool. The interior was richly carved and decorated with carved woodwork, double doors of leaded glass, and Arabic inscriptions. [3]

History

William Sauntry was born in poverty around 1845 in County Cork, Ireland. When Sauntry's father died a few years later, his mother moved the surviving family of seven to New Brunswick, Canada. Sauntry began working as a lumberjack, and in the late 1860s he and several family members moved again to Stillwater, Minnesota, epicenter of the Upper Midwest lumber trade. Within five years, the hardworking and ambitious Sauntry was partner in a lumber company. Soon he was part-owner of the St. Croix Log Boom and managing the local interests of Minnesota's leading lumber magnate Frederick Weyerhaeuser. [4]

Sauntry married Eunice Tozer, the daughter of a business partner, in 1881—around the same time he commissioned a house in Stillwater's North Hill neighborhood. Initially a modest 40 by 22 feet (12.2 by 6.7 m), the house grew along with Sauntry's fortune. [5] By this time Sauntry was estimated to be worth $2 million, and a series of architectural modifications added rooms, towers, porches, and upper stories to the house until it comprised 28 rooms and 7,000 square feet (650 m2). [4]

By 1889 Sauntry had added a billiard room and an outdoor tennis court. [6] However his passion for physical activity and entertaining guests led him to commission a freestanding recreation hall behind the main house in 1902. Moreover, his fanciful nature decreed that the hall would be patterned after a Moorish palace (the well-traveled Sauntry had reportedly been inspired by the Alhambra during a trip to Spain). [3] Both Moorish Revival architecture and dedicated recreation halls had some precedence at the time, but were quite rare in Minnesota. [3] Architect Benjamin Marshall of Chicago designed the hall. [4]

By the early 20th century, however, the forests of the Upper Midwest were logged out, the St. Croix Log Boom went out of business, and Sauntry's attempts to invest in mining were not turning a profit. On November 10, 1914, the 69-year-old lumberman left his Blair Flats apartment in Saint Paul and checked into a downtown hotel, where he shot himself in the head. Although Sauntry's fortunes were in some decline, his wife and other close associates were mystified by his abrupt suicide. [4]

Following Sauntry's death, the house and recreation hall were divided into separate properties. In 1920 the recreation hall was converted into a three-unit apartment by its new owner, who had the pool and bowling alley removed and the ceilings lowered. In 1999 new owners began restoring the hall while making it functional as a single-family home. Over the course of a decade they restored the ballroom and foyer to their original decor, complemented with appropriately exotic furniture. The main house was also purchased by new owners in 1999, who made their own restorations and opened the property as a bed and breakfast. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota) River in Wisconsin and Minnesota, United States

The St. Croix River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 169 miles (272 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The lower 125 miles (201 km) of the river form the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota. The river is a National Scenic Riverway under the protection of the National Park Service. A hydroelectric plant at St. Croix Falls supplies power to the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area.

Stillwater Bridge (St. Croix River)

The Stillwater Bridge was a vertical-lift bridge crossing the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota, and Houlton, Wisconsin. It formerly connected Minnesota State Highway 36 and Wisconsin Highway 64. Around 18,000 vehicles crossed the bridge daily. The new St. Croix Crossing bridge crossing the St. Croix river valley to the south of Stillwater replaced it, having opened to highway traffic on August 2, 2017, leaving the Stillwater Lift Bridge to be preserved and to be converted to bicycle/pedestrian use.

Wild River State Park

Wild River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, curving along 18 miles (29 km) of the St. Croix River. This long, narrow park is shaped somewhat like a sideways 'S', with development largely concentrated in the lower third. The remote upper sections flank the mouth of a tributary called the Sunrise River. The park is managed to provide quieter, more nature-oriented recreation as a counterpoint to the busier William O'Brien and Interstate State Parks downstream.

St. Croix Boom Site United States historic place

The St. Croix Boom Site is a historic and scenic wayside on the St. Croix River in Stillwater Township, Minnesota, United States. It commemorates the location of a critical log boom where, from 1856 to 1914, timber from upriver was sorted and stored before being dispatched to sawmills downstream. The site was developed as a roadside park along Minnesota State Highway 95 in the 1930s. In 1966 it was designated a National Historic Landmark for its national significance in the theme of industry. It was nominated for being the earliest, most important, and longest serving of the log storage and handling operations that supported Minnesota's major logging industry. Virtually no traces remain of the site's original buildings and structures.

Ca dZan United States historic place

Ca' d'Zan is a Mediterranean revival style residence in Sarasota, Florida, adjacent to Sarasota Bay. The winter residence of circus mogul, capitalist, entrepreneur and art collector John Ringling and his wife Mable has been admired as an architectural gem since it was completed in 1926.

Captain Austin Jenks House Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The Captain Austin Jenks House is a historic house in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, built in 1871. Austin Jenks was a prominent businessman and river pilot involved in timber rafting on the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having local significance in the themes of architecture, industry, and transportation. It was nominated for its association with Jenks and the importance of water transportation to the region's foundational lumber industry.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Minnesota

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Minnesota. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Minnesota, United States. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in an online map.

Ivory McKusick House Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The Ivory McKusick House is a historic house in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, completed in 1872 for Ivory McKusick (1827–1906). It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having local significance in the themes of architecture and commerce. It was nominated as a striking example of Second Empire architecture in the region and for its associations with a notable family in early Stillwater. McKusick had built his wealth via the lumber industry and government contracts during the Civil War. His older brother John had helped establish the first sawmill in the vicinity in 1843, named and platted the community that grew around it after his hometown in Maine, and served as its first mayor.

Albert Lammers House Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The Albert Lammers House is a historic house in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, built circa 1893. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having local significance in the themes of architecture and industry. It was nominated for its association with a local family that expanded Stillwater's lumber interests into northwest Minnesota, and as the city's leading example of Queen Anne architecture.

Roscoe Hersey House Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The Roscoe Hersey House is a historic house in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, built 1879–1880. It was designed by architect George W. Orff in a mix of Eastlake and early Queen Anne style. Roscoe Hersey (?1841–1906) was a key figure in Stillwater's lumber and mercantile development, the son and local representative of Isaac Staples' Maine-based business partner Samuel F. Hersey. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having local significance in the themes of architecture, commerce, and industry. It was nominated for its embodiment of the commercial success of the Hersey–Staples partnership, the ties between the St. Croix Valley and Bangor, Maine, and the peak of Stillwater's lumber industry.

Mortimer Webster House Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The Mortimer Webster House is a historic house in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, constructed 1865–1866. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having local significance in the themes of architecture and commerce. It was nominated for being one of the best examples of Italianate architecture in Stillwater, and for its association with Mortimer Webster, one of the town's notable early entrepreneurs.

Isaac Staples Sawmill United States historic place

Isaac Staples' Sawmill is a historic industrial property in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, consisting of an 1850 stone powerhouse and a 1900 metal-clad factory. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Croix Lumber Mills—Stillwater Manufacturing Company in 1982 for its local significance in the theme of industry. It was nominated because the powerhouse is the only surviving industrial building associated with Isaac Staples (1816–1898), a major figure in Minnesota's early commercial development. The property now operates as a shopping mall with upper level apartments.

St. Croix Boom Company House and Barn Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The St. Croix Boom Company House and Barn is a historic residence in Stillwater Township, Minnesota, United States, built circa 1885. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 for its local significance in the theme of industry. It was nominated as the only known standing building associated with the St. Croix Boom Company, which operated a log boom critical to Minnesota's logging industry from 1856 to 1914.

Nelson School United States historic place

Nelson School is a former school building in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, built in 1897. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for having local significance in the themes of architecture and education. It was nominated for its Neoclassical/Georgian Revival architecture by Orff & Guilbert and for its status as the oldest surviving public school building in Stillwater.

Arcola Mills United States historic place

Arcola Mills is a historic house in the unincorporated community of Arcola, Minnesota, United States. Built in 1847, it is considered the third-oldest and largest all-wood-frame house still standing in Minnesota. It was the home of brothers Martin and John Mower, who established one of the first sawmills on the St. Croix River and the community around it. The house and the remnants of the nearby mill were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as the John and Martin Mower House and Arcola Mill Site for having local significance in the themes of architecture, exploration/settlement, and industry. The property was nominated as an "excellent example" of Greek Revival architecture and for its association with the region's early settlement and lumber industry. The property now operates as a non-profit event and education center.

Musser Lumber Company was a US lumber company, and one of Iowa's pioneer lumber concerns. In its day, it was one of the most complete and modern lumber mills on the Mississippi River, employing about 400 men during the working season, and between 200 and 300 men in the logging end of the business.

Huff–Lamberton House Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The Huff–Lamberton House is a historic house in Winona, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1857, and in 1873 it was given a Moorish Revival porch. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 for its state-level significance in the theme of architecture. It was nominated for being one of Minnesota's oldest and best preserved Italian Villa style houses.

Croixsyde Historic house in Minnesota, United States

Croixsyde is a historic house in May Township, Minnesota, United States, near the city of Stillwater. It was built from 1922 to 1927 as one of the first summer homes on the St. Croix River. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Benjamin B. Sheffield House in 1980 for its local significance in the themes of architecture and entertainment/recreation. It was nominated for being an early example of the area's summer homes and for its fine rustic architecture.

Samuel Burkleo was an American merchant and politician who served in the Minnesota Territorial Council from 1849 until 1852.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Sauntry, William, House and Recreation Hall". Minnesota National Register Properties Database. Minnesota Historical Society. 2009. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Harvey, Thomas (March 1981). "Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form: William Sauntry House & Recreation Hall" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-08-26.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Millett, Larry (2014). Minnesota's Own: Preserving Our Grand Homes. Saint Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN   978-0-87351-929-8.
  5. 1 2 Tschofen, Carmen (2011-05-06). "626 4th St N". Stillwater's Heirloom & Landmark Sites Program. City of Stillwater and City of Stillwater's Heritage Preservation Commission. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  6. ↑ Tschofen, Carmen (2011-05-06). "625 5th St N". Stillwater's Heirloom & Landmark Sites Program. City of Stillwater and City of Stillwater's Heritage Preservation Commission. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.