Here is my second favorite home on Summit Avenue in St Paul, Minnesota, photo taken fall of 2006. You can only imagine how grand the home appeared on a dirt street with carriage houses in the rear and servants coming and going in the late 1800's. These homes sit high up on a hill and overlook downtown St Paul. I wonder what it was like to look up at them as a commoner? Probably the same type of awe I feel in 2007 when I look at them too!
This weeks spotlight historic home is 432 Summit Avenue
The Burbank-Livingston-Griggs is the second oldest home still standing on the avenue and was built by James Burbank in 1862. It is constructed of Mendota Limestone and was designed by Otis E. Wheelock of Chicago.
The home is a fantastic representation of the Italianate style that was very popular from 1840-1880. Of the five Italian style villas built on the bluff, only two remain. Key exterior features of the home are the cupola that sits on top of the roof, the low pitched roof, tall narrow windows with arches, and large decorative brackets at the eaves. The home is situated on an acre of land and boasts a little over 10,000 square feet. With 7 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, the home is larger than it seems from the outside. Those lucky enough to see the inside would be astounded by the beauty. Mrs Theodore Griggs had many rooms imported after 1900 including a French drawing room, an Elizabethan study, and Italian paneled dining room, and a marble corridor to the mirrored ballroom. The last recorded sale of the home was in 1996 and is believed to be the only sale of the home in the last century.
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