August 3, 2021
GLENSHEEN MANSION
3300 London Rd, Duluth, MN 55804
“Glensheen, the Historic Congdon Estate is a 20,000 square foot mansion in Duluth, Minnesota, United States, operated by the University of Minnesota Duluth as a historic house museum.” Wikipedia
If you’ve followed my travels you’ve probably figured out that I’m a sucker for a turn-of-the-century mansion. Glensheen just moved to a place near the top of my favorite mansions. As I made my way through the house on the self-guided tour, I kept thinking I could see myself living here, as I found the residence both comfortable and elegant. The fact that it sits on the shore of Lake Superior didn’t hurt either.
The mansion, completed in 1908 and built by Chester and Clara Congdon, had most of the usual rooms found in mansions of that time period. It had beautiful woodwork and some stunning light fixtures. I was mesmerized by the craftsmanship on the main staircase and found the water lily shaped lamp shades in the den stunning. Highlights for me included the library, the breakfast room, and the billiards room next to the amusement room. Oh, and did I mention Lake Superior in the back yard?
The property included a beautiful garden, clay tennis courts, a carriage house/stable, and a boathouse.
The carriage house/stable.
Glensheen Mansion
The front door.
The main stairway looking from the front foyer.
The craftsmanship of this stairway was unbelievable.
The water lily shaped lamp shades in the den.
An original Edgar Allen Poe book in the library.
The rotating book case in the office, next to the library.
The glass in this door appeared to me to have Frank Lloyd Wright influence, but I didn't see a docent to be able to ask about it.
As a child my Aunt Viola used to refer to sitz baths, but I had never seen an actual sitz tub until I saw this in the master bathroom.
The master bath also contained this shower with nine shower heads.
The beautiful breakfast room. The green tiles are Rookwood pottery which cost $5-7 each at the time, today they would cost $125-150.
This wall fountain in the breakfast room as for watering indoor plants.
The formal dining room.
The billiards room.
The amusement room, which was used for various types of entertaining.
This is the laundry room. The gray doors are clothes dryers. The large circular device in the foreground was a clothes press.
The butler's pantry.;
A sun dial in the garden (which had pretty accurate time). The gray area in the background is Lake Superior. Smoke from Canadian wild fires dimished the view.
The clay tennis court.
Part of the gardens.
A view from the backside of the mansion.
The boathouse and part of what used to be the pier.
A stone bridge near the boathouse.
A view of the mansion from the stone bridge.