1501 Dupont Ave N
Minneapolis, MN, USA

1501 Dupont Ave N, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Property Description: “The hipped roof is understated while the cross gables are emphasized. Conventional Queen Anne features are abundant: asymmetry, an attic tower, wraparound porch, and numerous detail. Other dominant features are circular openings on the second floor deck, its large mass, and carved, dramatically pointed decorations bordering the second-floor picture window and the entry pediment.

Most of the architectural detail of the Young House is typical of the Queen Anne style. Projecting triangles in the dominant front and side gables are clad with patterned wood shingles. Dentils grace both gables. Corner boards and a horizontal belt course are emphatic, as are window and door surrounds. Both front and back porch supports are heavy turned spindles.

The main porch and dominant gables sport decorative brackets. A front-facing hipped dormer is curiously placed and appears to be metal-clad. Front gable, tower, and dormer each have triple windows. Transoms adorn the entry door and most windows, with false transoms over other windows. A semi-circular opening in the south gable complements the circular openings on the front deck. Both openings, the back porch, and a deck over the south bay have turned spindle balusters. The chimney is patterned brick. Numerous windows pierce the limestone foundation.”

Statement of Significance:
The Young House is a typical example of numerous Queen Anne houses built by Minneapolis residents made prosperous in the boom era of the 1880s. Few remain.

‘Though Minneapolis has lost all of its truly great Queen Anne houses, it has managed to retain a scattering of upper-middle class examples. Fortunately, there are several neighborhoods where one can still experience at least a partial streetscape of these houses. One of these areas is the 1500 and 1600 blocks of Dupont Avenue North; the other is situated on 2nd and 3rd Avenues South between 31st and 32nd Streets.' (Borchert, et al, Legacy of Minneapolis, p. 153)

The major elements of the Young House are typical of the Queen Anne style. The elements themselves are almost completely asymmetrical; entry north of center and door off-centered from the porch entry, peaks on one side with slopes on the other, circles and squares. A full-width porch extends along one side wall. Textured shingles and projections avoid a smooth-walled appearance. A tower is present. Porch supports and balustrades are turned spindles. Gables are decorated and the chimney is patterned. Most window and door surrounds are simple.

This is a large, amply decorated house, the size and detail of which suggest that John Young was a gentleman of some importance and standing in the northside community. Young built this house for his wife and daughter in 1888, directly across 15th Avenue North from the Frederick Stevens House (q.v.). When built, and into the twentieth century, the Young House had few other close neighbors. Young was an officer of the Marline Manufacturing Company, becoming treasurer of Consumers Gas Saving Company (a competitor of Minnegasco’s predecessor) by 1894."

First Owner: John Young