Imagine being one of the wealthiest people to have ever lived in the United States, what
would the inside of your house look like?
Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to "ThisHouse!" Today we are exploring Railroad Barron, James
Hill’s house in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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In 1838, James Hill was born in Ontario to Irish Immigrants.
When he was just 17 years old, he headed down south to St. Paul, Minnesota in search of
work.
He found a job at the Levee working as a clerk and would frequent a diner in town where he
fell in love with a charming waitress named Mary.
James began saving his money and investing it wisely, so by the time he was ready to
propose to Mary, he was already considerably well-off.
But he still had greater ambitions in life.
He sent Mary to finishing school to prepare her for the life he was striving for.
The two wasted no time starting their family, having 10 children together.
After working in St. Paul for 20 years, James was finally ready to make his first power
move.
In 1878, the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was bankrupt.
He teamed up with a handful of investors to purchase it and began greatly expanding it
all the way into Canada and across the Rocky Mountains.
All the while, he would purchase businesses and relocate them along the railroad to ensure
that trade was maximized.
In addition, he advertised in Europe to bring immigrants to the United States with the promise
of farmland conveniently located along his rail lines.
Within 12 years, the company reformed as The Great Northern Railway.
He began purchasing all the smaller railways around, before joining forces with JP Morgan
in 1901 to purchase the Northern Pacific Railroad.
This merger set off alarm bells in the political arena and almost immediately they were prosecuted
for violating antitrust laws as they now had a monopoly on the entire north west.
While all of this was going on, James had made himself the fortune he and Mary used
to dream about in the diner.
And now, he could give her the life he had promised.
Together, they began planning their dream house on St. Paul’s prominent Summit Avenue.
They hired east coast architects Peabody, Stearns, and Furber to design for them a 36,500
square foot Richardsonian Romanesque Mansion.
Across its five floors it would boast electric lights, central heating, and plumbing for
13 bathrooms.
James managed the construction of his house as ruthlessly as his business, firing his
architects and throwing away designs for stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
After the construction of the house, landscaping, and furnishings, the grand total came to around
931,000 dollars, or the modern day equivalent of nearly 33 million dollars.
The house was situated with commanding views of both the Mississippi River and St. Paul.
In this photo, you can see the Cathedral of Saint Paul peeking out behind the house, this
is the same cathedral that replaced the Norman Wolfred Kittson Mansion which we recently
featured in our community posts.
Going inside the house, you would pass through an elaborately carved door as you made your
way through the entry hall.
This would bring you to the great hall, measuring 88 feet long with incremental pilasters adorned
with ornate relief work.
In the center were the grand stairs flanked by oversized fluted columns merging with the
wooden balustrade.
The bifurcated staircase was handcarved by an artist who was paid 1 dollar per hour for
his work, or the modern day equivalent of about 35 dollars per hour.
It’s newel posts were engraved with floral patterns, with the handrail seamlessly curving
and rounding out at each landing.
All set against a wall of windows to allow light to gloriously flood through, illuminating
the intricate detailing of the wood work.
Set to the right side of the staircase was a floor to ceiling fireplace adorned with
floral relief work.
Here, we can see the level of craftsmanship in not just the mantle, but also in the pilasters
and surrounding millwork.
A pipe organ was worked into the house with over 1,000 hand made bellows stretching three
stories below a sky lit art gallery.
James had iron bars installed on the doors and windows surrounding this room to protect
his prized art collection.
The dining room stretched below a coffered ceiling with enough seating for every member
of the family.
Guests would have been left in awe by the electric lighting, which was rare for the
time, illuminating not just the chandelier, but the wall sconces as well.
In this photo, we can see the intricate will work continued not only in the door surrounds,
but in the curving built in display cabinets softening the rooms corners.
At the far end, a fireplace rose floor to ceiling between glass paned doors opening
to the terrace.
The breakfast room, though equally as ornate, was a more comfortable space for more intimate
meals.
No house of this stature would be complete without a library, fashioned with half height
bookcases and complimented by tufted furniture.
The parlor provided a break for the dark wood work, offering painted millwork below the
intricately plastered ceiling.
As we begin our journey downstairs, we will begin to see the complex systems in place
to ensure the house ran optimally day to day.
A staff of 10 to 12 people would have been required to fill all the roles provided by
the mechanical systems.
Here we will find the Kitchen, equipt with state of the art appliances and ready to prepare
meals for dozens, even hundreds of guests.
The laundry room was equipped with four washing stations and a press.
Though the family would not have done their own laundry, the room was still finished out
with a marble floor.
The drying room continued with places to hang clothes to dry as well as early drying machines
which pulled out from the wall.
The boiler room was neatly managed with pipes that almost appear decorative running along
the walls in neat and orderly rows.
Dropping down below the landing, We can see the boilers, bricked in, this truly gives
us a sense of the scale on which this house was run.
James and Mary spent the rest of their lives in this house watching their children grow
and get married in the drawing room.
The family stayed close even after the children started their own lives with many of them
purchasing homes on the same street.
By 1921, both James and Mary had passed away.
Throughout James’ life, he had acquired a total networth, including assets, of nearly
200 million dollars, or the modern day equivalent of nearly 5 and a half billion dollars.
In 1925, the surviving family donated the mansion to the Catholic Archdiocese of St.
Paul.
Which used the mansion for many decades until 1978 when they relocated to a newer facility.
All the while, the church had not made many changes to the mansion with no major renovations.
The house had been fitted with all the technology needed to carry it into the next century,
aside from electric outlets.
With minimal updates made to the existing structure, the house was acquired by the Minnesota
Historical Society and opened to the public as a house museum where nearly every original
detail has been either maintained or lovingly restored, appearing almost exactly as it did
the day James and Mary moved into their dream house.
Which room was your favorite?
Let me know down below in the comments section.
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