James J. Hill House at Night

I recently took a tour of the James J. Hill House. The house was completed for Mr. Hill, who was the chief executive officer of the Great Northern Railway, in 1891. At more than 36,000 square feet, it is the largest mansion on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. I visited to take the Gas Light Tour, a rare offering in which visitors can view the home in the evening.

James J. Hill House at Night

 

Dragon Wall Sconce

Grand Hallway

Pipe Organ in the Gallery

View the rest of photos from the James J. Hill House Gas Light Tour

Colonial Warehouse

I've been sick and had an ear infection. A bad enough ear infection that it gave me a touch of vertigo. Needless to say, I haven't exactly been out and about taking pictures. I've barely been holding on to my 365 project! But it has been a week since my last blog post, so I thought I should put something up.

Colonial Warehouse - Back

This is the Colonial Warehouse, located at 212 Third Avenue North in Minneapolis' Warehouse Historic District. It was originally constructed in 1885 to be the headquarters of the Minneapolis Street Railroad Company, later named Twin City Rapid Transit Company. The bottom two floors of the Romanesque Style building are part of the original design. The top two stories resulted from an addition that occurred in 1909.

Lit Hallway

Unlike many other buildings in the Warehouse District, this building wasn't originally meant to be a warehouse. At first it housed the transit company's general offices within its 161,179 square feet, as well as the paint and woodworking shops during the horse-drawn streetcar era. It later served as a powerhouse when the system changed over to a cable-car line. I couldn't find confirmation, but I believe after this, it was turned into a storage warehouse. Later it housed a paper company and grocery wholesaler at separate times.

Interact Center Art Gallery

Now it has been converted back into office space. A multitude of creative enterprises call this place home, including The Onion and the Interact Art Center and Gallery. It was a fun place to run around with my camera.

Victorian Christmas at the Historical Ames Florida Stork House

Over the weekend, the Ames Florida Stork House museum and historical society at which I volunteer at held a turn-of-the-century style Christmas Tea. The house was decorated beautifully and the atmosphere was festive. Once everyone cleared out, I had the chance to take some pictures of the house with all of its twinkly lights.

Yes, there were strands of Christmas Lights at the turn of the last century. These aren't that kind, though, I think it would probably be a fire hazard, and we wouldn't want the Stork house to burn down. Plus, if we had light strands that old, they would be an artifact on display in the house. And that would be cool (Yeah, there's the history nerd in me).

Take a look at that beautiful fireplace. We couldn't have a real fire, so a volunteer wrapped logs in orange Christmas lights. The glow looks nice in the photos and even reflects on the wood flooring in a warm way.

You can check out the whole set of Victorian Christmas Tea 2009 photos on Flickr, including some black and white photography. Of course.