Aug 26, 2020
Cargill Decides to Demolish The Still Pond Mansion
Cargill Decides to Demolish The Still Pond Mansion - Needed updates to convert the former headquarters into a library or museum weren’t feasible, but key artifacts and memorabilia were saved. By By Lianna Matt McLernon -August 26, 2020 In mid-August, Cargill’s Lake Office, also known as the Still Pond mansion, was demolished. Select artifacts and memorabilia have been removed by the company’s archive teams, but the house that was built in 1931 for Rufus Rand Jr.—Wayzata’s first mayor and the namesake of Rand Tower in downtown Minneapolis—is no longer standing. Featuring 63 rooms, 13 fireplaces, a marble staircase, a tunnel, and the chateau-inspired architecture that Rand loved when he was an airman in France during World War II, the 25,175-square-foot mansion was designed by McEnary & Larson and built for $400,000. Cargill has owned Still Pond and its 275-acre property since 1944 when the Rand family moved out. For a while, the mansion served as the company’s headquarters, even receiving a 15,000-square-foot expansion in 1977. When a new office building was built on the campus in 1975, Still Pond became a space for about the top 40 executives. Then, in 2016, even the executives moved out of it to be closer to the rest of the team. Although there was some internal discussion on whether the building could become a library or museum, company spokesperson Daniel Sullivan says that to make the structure up to code would have most likely required gutting the whole interior. Tiles, plaster, insulation, and more might contain materials considered toxic now, and the blueprint of the house made it extremely difficult to meet accessibility and safety requirements. According to Cargill’s company statement, the mansion’s footprint will eventually be turned into green space. While not many people in the state have been inside the mansion, the Wayzata Historical Society’s Facebook post on Still Pond’s demolition has ushered forth a wave of comments from current and former Cargill employees. “I was a Cargill photographer 2011-2016,” writes one. “My happiest memory at Cargill occurred in this building: an appreciation lunch held by Bill Buckner.” Another says, “So very sad to see this gorgeous piece of history being torn down—I worked at Cargill from 1980 to 2006, and it was always such a privilege to be called over there for meetings.” Others talked about people they knew who worked there: “My mom worked there in the early ‘70s. Her ‘office’ was formerly a closet. She worked in the molasses department and then went on to be the first woman grain trader on the floor of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.” And, while the Star Tribune reported that Cargill has discouraged its employees from calling the Lake Office “the Chateau,” perhaps this one time the company won’t mind a nickname equally as grand: “I was fortunate to office, for a short while, at ‘the Cargill Castle’ as my kids called it. Sad to see it go.”
Cargill Decides to Demolish The Still Pond Mansion
Cargill Decides to Demolish The Still Pond Mansion - Needed updates to convert the former headquarters into a library or museum weren’t feasible, but key artifacts and memorabilia were saved. By By Lianna Matt McLernon -August 26, 2020 In mid-August, Cargill’s Lake Office, also known as the Still Pond mansion, was demolished. Select artifacts and memorabilia have been removed by the company’s archive teams, but the house that was built in 1931 for Rufus Rand Jr.—Wayzata’s first mayor and the namesake of Rand Tower in downtown Minneapolis—is no longer standing. Featuring 63 rooms, 13 fireplaces, a marble staircase, a tunnel, and the chateau-inspired architecture that Rand loved when he was an airman in France during World War II, the 25,175-square-foot mansion was designed by McEnary & Larson and built for $400,000. Cargill has owned Still Pond and its 275-acre property since 1944 when the Rand family moved out. For a while, the mansion served as the company’s headquarters, even receiving a 15,000-square-foot expansion in 1977. When a new office building was built on the campus in 1975, Still Pond became a space for about the top 40 executives. Then, in 2016, even the executives moved out of it to be closer to the rest of the team. Although there was some internal discussion on whether the building could become a library or museum, company spokesperson Daniel Sullivan says that to make the structure up to code would have most likely required gutting the whole interior. Tiles, plaster, insulation, and more might contain materials considered toxic now, and the blueprint of the house made it extremely difficult to meet accessibility and safety requirements. According to Cargill’s company statement, the mansion’s footprint will eventually be turned into green space. While not many people in the state have been inside the mansion, the Wayzata Historical Society’s Facebook post on Still Pond’s demolition has ushered forth a wave of comments from current and former Cargill employees. “I was a Cargill photographer 2011-2016,” writes one. “My happiest memory at Cargill occurred in this building: an appreciation lunch held by Bill Buckner.” Another says, “So very sad to see this gorgeous piece of history being torn down—I worked at Cargill from 1980 to 2006, and it was always such a privilege to be called over there for meetings.” Others talked about people they knew who worked there: “My mom worked there in the early ‘70s. Her ‘office’ was formerly a closet. She worked in the molasses department and then went on to be the first woman grain trader on the floor of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.” And, while the Star Tribune reported that Cargill has discouraged its employees from calling the Lake Office “the Chateau,” perhaps this one time the company won’t mind a nickname equally as grand: “I was fortunate to office, for a short while, at ‘the Cargill Castle’ as my kids called it. Sad to see it go.”
Aug 26, 2020
Posted Date
Mar 17, 2022
Historical Record Date
Aug 26, 2020
Source Name
Midwest Home
May 09, 2016
May 09, 2016
Cargill's top execs are moving out of mansion HQ
Cargill's top execs are moving out of mansion HQ By Mark Reilly – Managing Editor, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal For decades, Cargill Inc.'s upper management hasn't been based in the company's main offices, but in a French chateau-style manor on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. But that'll soon change. The Star Tribune reports that CEO Dave MacLennan and other executives at the agribusiness giant are ditching their offices at the "Lake Office"— a 13-fireplace mansion built in the early 1930s by Rufus Rand Jr., who also designed the Rand Tower in downtown Minneapolis. John MacMillan Jr., one of the heirs of Cargill's founders, bought it during World War II and later converted it into offices for the company. But officials said that MacLennan wants to be closer to the company's main Minnetonka offices, currently under renovation. And the Lake House has been criticized by employees, too, with some calling it too secretive and others terming it "Versailles." It isn't clear if Cargill plans to sell or find some other use for the mansion after the executives leave. Cargill spokesman Pete Stoddart said "future plans are uncertain at this time."
Cargill's top execs are moving out of mansion HQ
Cargill's top execs are moving out of mansion HQ By Mark Reilly – Managing Editor, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal For decades, Cargill Inc.'s upper management hasn't been based in the company's main offices, but in a French chateau-style manor on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. But that'll soon change. The Star Tribune reports that CEO Dave MacLennan and other executives at the agribusiness giant are ditching their offices at the "Lake Office"— a 13-fireplace mansion built in the early 1930s by Rufus Rand Jr., who also designed the Rand Tower in downtown Minneapolis. John MacMillan Jr., one of the heirs of Cargill's founders, bought it during World War II and later converted it into offices for the company. But officials said that MacLennan wants to be closer to the company's main Minnetonka offices, currently under renovation. And the Lake House has been criticized by employees, too, with some calling it too secretive and others terming it "Versailles." It isn't clear if Cargill plans to sell or find some other use for the mansion after the executives leave. Cargill spokesman Pete Stoddart said "future plans are uncertain at this time."
Posted Date
Mar 17, 2022
Historical Record Date
May 09, 2016
Source Name
Twin Cities Business Journal
Oct 19, 1971
Rufus R. Rand, the Last Member Of Lafayette Escadrille, Is Dead
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 18—Rufus R. Rand, the last surviving member of the Lafayette Escadrille, died Friday at the Lafayette Club. in Minnetonka Beach, a suburb of Minneapolis. He was 79 years old. Mr. Rand was a prominent civic and business leader in the Minneapolis area during the nineteen‐twenties and nineteen thirties. He was formerly owner and president of the Minneapolis Gas Company, a regent of the University of. Minnesota, Mayor of Wayzata, another suburb of Minneapolis, in the nineteen‐twenties, and a state commander of the American Legion. He served in both World Wars. He was decorated by the French Government for his service with the escadrille, a group of volunteer American aviators who formed a separate fighting unit in France's air force in 1916, before America's entry into the war. Mr. Rand's other reward for his service with the escadrille was his meeting with a Bryn Mawr‐trained secretary who was working as a nurse in Dr. Joseph Blake's war hospital. The nurse later became Mrs. Rand. She died in 1965 in Sarasota, Fla., where the couple spent their winters. When the United States entered World War II, Mr. Rand enlisted immediately and was given the rank of major, serving as an executive officer in charge of security at a bomber base in England and during the invasion of North Africa. He was later promoted to colonel. His most lasting monument in Minneapolis was the Rand Tower, a downtown landmark, that he built in 1929 and whose name was recently changed to the Dain Tower. In 1931, Mr. Rand built a 45‐room house on 240 acres of land at Gray's Bits,. in Wayzata. He always insisted on calling the acreage a farm, since the home was patterned after the large farm homes he had seen in France 15 years earlier. The home now serves as a home office for Cargill, Inc., an international grain company. Helped Form Aero Club Mr. Rand's. grandfather, Arthur Rand, was Mayor of Minneapolis, and his father, Rufus R. Rand Sr., was the founder of the Minneapolis Gas and Light Company. Even as a student at Williams College before World War I, relatives recall, Mr. Rand was enthusiastic about flying. He helped form an aero club at the college and flew his own planes at a time when they were powered by bicycle chains. As a fighter pilot, he was, shot down once but escaped without serious injuries. Mr. Rand is survived by five daughters, Mrs. Fredrika Millet, Mrs. John Lloyd, Mrs. Guy Loskot, Mrs. Charles Whitehouse, and Mrs. David M. Winton, and 16 grandchildren. Photo courtesy of the Wayzata Historical Society
Rufus R. Rand, the Last Member Of Lafayette Escadrille, Is Dead
MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 18—Rufus R. Rand, the last surviving member of the Lafayette Escadrille, died Friday at the Lafayette Club. in Minnetonka Beach, a suburb of Minneapolis. He was 79 years old. Mr. Rand was a prominent civic and business leader in the Minneapolis area during the nineteen‐twenties and nineteen thirties. He was formerly owner and president of the Minneapolis Gas Company, a regent of the University of. Minnesota, Mayor of Wayzata, another suburb of Minneapolis, in the nineteen‐twenties, and a state commander of the American Legion. He served in both World Wars. He was decorated by the French Government for his service with the escadrille, a group of volunteer American aviators who formed a separate fighting unit in France's air force in 1916, before America's entry into the war. Mr. Rand's other reward for his service with the escadrille was his meeting with a Bryn Mawr‐trained secretary who was working as a nurse in Dr. Joseph Blake's war hospital. The nurse later became Mrs. Rand. She died in 1965 in Sarasota, Fla., where the couple spent their winters. When the United States entered World War II, Mr. Rand enlisted immediately and was given the rank of major, serving as an executive officer in charge of security at a bomber base in England and during the invasion of North Africa. He was later promoted to colonel. His most lasting monument in Minneapolis was the Rand Tower, a downtown landmark, that he built in 1929 and whose name was recently changed to the Dain Tower. In 1931, Mr. Rand built a 45‐room house on 240 acres of land at Gray's Bits,. in Wayzata. He always insisted on calling the acreage a farm, since the home was patterned after the large farm homes he had seen in France 15 years earlier. The home now serves as a home office for Cargill, Inc., an international grain company. Helped Form Aero Club Mr. Rand's. grandfather, Arthur Rand, was Mayor of Minneapolis, and his father, Rufus R. Rand Sr., was the founder of the Minneapolis Gas and Light Company. Even as a student at Williams College before World War I, relatives recall, Mr. Rand was enthusiastic about flying. He helped form an aero club at the college and flew his own planes at a time when they were powered by bicycle chains. As a fighter pilot, he was, shot down once but escaped without serious injuries. Mr. Rand is survived by five daughters, Mrs. Fredrika Millet, Mrs. John Lloyd, Mrs. Guy Loskot, Mrs. Charles Whitehouse, and Mrs. David M. Winton, and 16 grandchildren. Photo courtesy of the Wayzata Historical Society
Oct 19, 1971
Posted Date
Mar 17, 2022
Historical Record Date
Oct 19, 1971
Source Name
New York Times
