Feb 01, 2011
Bed and Breakfast Queen Anne Victorian Stillwater Historic Homes
Drive down Olive Street and you just cant miss this huge Queen Anne historic home. Built in 1882, the home was owned by John OBrien, a local lumber businessman. He added some expansive additions to the home in 1896 to house his large family of eight plus three additional servants. However a few years later, the family moved West as the lumber boom in Stillwater was starting to slow down. Like many historic homes, this one too fell into despair as the years wore on, but in 1981 it was saved by a couple who converted the home into one of Stillwaters first Bed and Breakfast establishments The Rivertown Inn . In 1999, new owners made the B & B even grandeur with many restorations, including the exterior, thus preserving the home for decades to come.
Bed and Breakfast Queen Anne Victorian Stillwater Historic Homes
Drive down Olive Street and you just cant miss this huge Queen Anne historic home. Built in 1882, the home was owned by John OBrien, a local lumber businessman. He added some expansive additions to the home in 1896 to house his large family of eight plus three additional servants. However a few years later, the family moved West as the lumber boom in Stillwater was starting to slow down. Like many historic homes, this one too fell into despair as the years wore on, but in 1981 it was saved by a couple who converted the home into one of Stillwaters first Bed and Breakfast establishments The Rivertown Inn . In 1999, new owners made the B & B even grandeur with many restorations, including the exterior, thus preserving the home for decades to come.
Feb 01, 2011
Posted Date
Sep 27, 2021
Historical Record Date
Feb 01, 2011
Source Name
Historic Homes of Minnesota
John and Anna O`Brien House
In 1873, Harvey Wilson, a city surveyor who lived near Chestnut and Fourth Streets, platted a three-block addition roughly between Fifth and Sixth Streets, between Oak and Chestnut Streets. The lots were slow in selling, but about 1880 John OBrien, a Stillwater lumberman, purchased lots 4, 5, and 6 of Block 1. What John had in mind for these lots is uncertain, because the Stillwater Gazette of August 9, 1882, has a note saying that "John OBrien expects to move into his new house on Third Street next week." That must have been the case because the Stillwater City Directory for 1882-83 lists OBrien as living on Third Street near Churchill Street._x000D_ _x000D_ But for reasons we dont know, John did not seem content with his new house on Third Street because in 1884, he and his wife, Anna, built a very large sumptuous home at 306 West Olive Street on his lots in Wilsons Addition. The house has been called the first full-fledged Queen Anne style house in Stillwater, the purest specimen of that style, relatively simple and impressive. However, in the 1890s, this style was exuberantly exaggerated and came to signify wild collages of turrets, bays, and thickly applied ornament--the kind of house usually seen in Walt Disney movies! _x000D_ _x000D_ John OBrien was born in Maine in 1849, coming to Stillwater with his parents, Michael and Mary OBrien in 1853. Anna was born in New York State in 1855. They were married in 1879. _x000D_ _x000D_ In 1870, when John was 21, the logging firm of the OBrien Brothers [James & John] was formed, which later merged into the firm of Anderson [James] & OBriens. The firm did well, and by all accounts John was a prosperous man. _x000D_ _x000D_ In 1896, according to a building permit application, the Stillwater Manufacturing Company added a two-story, six-by-sixteen-foot addition on the west side of the OBrien house, and a two-story fourteen-by-thirty-foot addition on the north side, requiring rebuilding the roof. The cost was estimated at $1,000, the price of a good sized house in those days._x000D_ _x000D_ The 1900 Census lists the family living at 306 West Olive Street. John, born of Irish parents, is listed at age 50; his wife, Anna, is 44; a daughter, Mary, is 19; a son, John K. is 17; a daughter, Anna, is 16; a son, Joseph, is 14; a son, Cotter, is 8; and another son, Willis, is 3. Also residing in the house were three servants: Martha Hinz, age 27; Sol Johnson, age 33; and Jennie Johnson, age 24._x000D_ _x000D_ Shortly after the 1900 Census was taken, John OBrien and his family, faced with the faltering lumber business in the St. Croix Valley, followed the lumber industry west, and moved to Kalispell, Montana. James J. Hill, the railroad magnate of the northwest, contracted with OBrien to set up a sawmill at the head of Flathead Lake to provide triangle railroad ties to the Great Northern Railroad. The mill town of Somers, Montana, was established, and workers from Stillwater were solicited to go west._x000D_ _x000D_ Although the Somers business was successful, John OBrien moved further west to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he again engaged in the lumber business. He died in Vancouver, October 18, 1914, and his body was returned to Stillwater for burial. He was, his obituary noted, one of "those splendid men, who, years ago made Stillwater famed for the strong and virile character of her manhood."_x000D_ _x000D_ The next occupant of the house, as listed in the 1910 Census, was William Hersey Bean, age 37, and his wife, Mary, also age 37. They had two sons: William B., age 11; and Phillip J., age 6. There were two servants: Jennie Johnson, age 22, and Beatrice McGarry, age 26. William was the son of Jacob Bean, one of Stillwaters most illustrious lumbermen. It was Williams career to sell off the real estate acquired in the last half of the Nineteenth Century by the vast Hersey and Bean lumber companies. _x000D_ _x000D_ William and Mary Bean lived in the house at 306 West Olive Street into the late 1930s, moving to Pine Street shortly before Williams death in 1944. _x000D_ _x000D_ By 1980, the house had fallen on hard times and was used as a residence for delinquent boys. But in 1981 Sherwood and Gloria Vegsund purchased the home and converted the John OBrien residence from a single home to the Rivertown Inn, Stillwaters first bed and breakfast. After a succession of owners, the Inn was purchased in 1999 by Jeff and Julie Anderson who lived nearby at 119 W. Chestnut Street. They soon decided they wished to make their guests as comfortable as possible, and they began a three phase restoration and modernization of the interior which lasted for over 5 years. While improving the interior which already had many beautiful details, the Andersons also restored the exterior to its original rich appearance, only adding a commercial kitchen on the north side of the house. _x000D_ _x000D_ It has been said that when John OBrien lived in the house, it was a center of influence. The Andersons have continued that tradition, and even enlarged that reputation by offering the Inn as a gathering place for members of the U.S. Congress, federal and state judges, state officials and legislators, authors, musicians, and entertainment celebrities such as Lake Wobegones own Garrison Keillor.
John and Anna O`Brien House
In 1873, Harvey Wilson, a city surveyor who lived near Chestnut and Fourth Streets, platted a three-block addition roughly between Fifth and Sixth Streets, between Oak and Chestnut Streets. The lots were slow in selling, but about 1880 John OBrien, a Stillwater lumberman, purchased lots 4, 5, and 6 of Block 1. What John had in mind for these lots is uncertain, because the Stillwater Gazette of August 9, 1882, has a note saying that "John OBrien expects to move into his new house on Third Street next week." That must have been the case because the Stillwater City Directory for 1882-83 lists OBrien as living on Third Street near Churchill Street._x000D_ _x000D_ But for reasons we dont know, John did not seem content with his new house on Third Street because in 1884, he and his wife, Anna, built a very large sumptuous home at 306 West Olive Street on his lots in Wilsons Addition. The house has been called the first full-fledged Queen Anne style house in Stillwater, the purest specimen of that style, relatively simple and impressive. However, in the 1890s, this style was exuberantly exaggerated and came to signify wild collages of turrets, bays, and thickly applied ornament--the kind of house usually seen in Walt Disney movies! _x000D_ _x000D_ John OBrien was born in Maine in 1849, coming to Stillwater with his parents, Michael and Mary OBrien in 1853. Anna was born in New York State in 1855. They were married in 1879. _x000D_ _x000D_ In 1870, when John was 21, the logging firm of the OBrien Brothers [James & John] was formed, which later merged into the firm of Anderson [James] & OBriens. The firm did well, and by all accounts John was a prosperous man. _x000D_ _x000D_ In 1896, according to a building permit application, the Stillwater Manufacturing Company added a two-story, six-by-sixteen-foot addition on the west side of the OBrien house, and a two-story fourteen-by-thirty-foot addition on the north side, requiring rebuilding the roof. The cost was estimated at $1,000, the price of a good sized house in those days._x000D_ _x000D_ The 1900 Census lists the family living at 306 West Olive Street. John, born of Irish parents, is listed at age 50; his wife, Anna, is 44; a daughter, Mary, is 19; a son, John K. is 17; a daughter, Anna, is 16; a son, Joseph, is 14; a son, Cotter, is 8; and another son, Willis, is 3. Also residing in the house were three servants: Martha Hinz, age 27; Sol Johnson, age 33; and Jennie Johnson, age 24._x000D_ _x000D_ Shortly after the 1900 Census was taken, John OBrien and his family, faced with the faltering lumber business in the St. Croix Valley, followed the lumber industry west, and moved to Kalispell, Montana. James J. Hill, the railroad magnate of the northwest, contracted with OBrien to set up a sawmill at the head of Flathead Lake to provide triangle railroad ties to the Great Northern Railroad. The mill town of Somers, Montana, was established, and workers from Stillwater were solicited to go west._x000D_ _x000D_ Although the Somers business was successful, John OBrien moved further west to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he again engaged in the lumber business. He died in Vancouver, October 18, 1914, and his body was returned to Stillwater for burial. He was, his obituary noted, one of "those splendid men, who, years ago made Stillwater famed for the strong and virile character of her manhood."_x000D_ _x000D_ The next occupant of the house, as listed in the 1910 Census, was William Hersey Bean, age 37, and his wife, Mary, also age 37. They had two sons: William B., age 11; and Phillip J., age 6. There were two servants: Jennie Johnson, age 22, and Beatrice McGarry, age 26. William was the son of Jacob Bean, one of Stillwaters most illustrious lumbermen. It was Williams career to sell off the real estate acquired in the last half of the Nineteenth Century by the vast Hersey and Bean lumber companies. _x000D_ _x000D_ William and Mary Bean lived in the house at 306 West Olive Street into the late 1930s, moving to Pine Street shortly before Williams death in 1944. _x000D_ _x000D_ By 1980, the house had fallen on hard times and was used as a residence for delinquent boys. But in 1981 Sherwood and Gloria Vegsund purchased the home and converted the John OBrien residence from a single home to the Rivertown Inn, Stillwaters first bed and breakfast. After a succession of owners, the Inn was purchased in 1999 by Jeff and Julie Anderson who lived nearby at 119 W. Chestnut Street. They soon decided they wished to make their guests as comfortable as possible, and they began a three phase restoration and modernization of the interior which lasted for over 5 years. While improving the interior which already had many beautiful details, the Andersons also restored the exterior to its original rich appearance, only adding a commercial kitchen on the north side of the house. _x000D_ _x000D_ It has been said that when John OBrien lived in the house, it was a center of influence. The Andersons have continued that tradition, and even enlarged that reputation by offering the Inn as a gathering place for members of the U.S. Congress, federal and state judges, state officials and legislators, authors, musicians, and entertainment celebrities such as Lake Wobegones own Garrison Keillor.
Posted Date
Sep 27, 2021
Source Name
Heirloom Homes and Landmark
