4516 Wooddale Avenue
Edina, MN, USA

What Is Colonial?

Norm Abram gives a little history lesson in the Colonial house style.

Life of Susan (Bronco) Cox Platou

Susan Cox Platou, TV sports prognosticator known as Bronco, dies at 83
By Janet Moore Star Tribune DECEMBER 31, 2018

A generation of Twin Cities sports fans may recall the football sports predictions of Sue Cox, aka Bronco, on WCCO broadcasts during the 1960s and '70s.

The model delivered predictions for professional and college football games over two decades with distinct flair — including hot pants, go-go boots and glittering evening gowns. For much of the time, she was married to Bobby Cox, the legendary University of Minnesota quarterback in the 1950s.

A 1971 article in the Minneapolis Tribune described Cox (later Platou, after remarrying) as "an attractive blonde" who used "women's intuition" when offering picks. In truth, she combed through sports stories and injury reports to prepare, and her accuracy rate was 70 to 80 percent as a result.

"Jimmy the Greek called her a lot to get some tips," said her daughter, Sarah Cox of Minneapolis, referring to the Las Vegas bookmaker and sportscaster. "She was a trailblazer in sports. She was more than a beautiful face; she was smart and she did the job well."

Susan Cox Platou of Wayzata died Christmas Day from lung disease. She was 83.

The Minneapolis Star also ran a sports column for many years called Ask Bronco, a mix of her insight and moxie. In her 1973 debut, a reader from Fridley asked if football players are "swingers."

"The only swingers I know play baseball," Bronco replied.

Susan Cox Platou
CATHERINE PREUS, STAR TRIBUNE
Susan Cox Platou
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A generation of Twin Cities sports fans may recall the football sports predictions of Sue Cox, aka Bronco, on WCCO broadcasts during the 1960s and '70s.

The model delivered predictions for professional and college football games over two decades with distinct flair — including hot pants, go-go boots and glittering evening gowns. For much of the time, she was married to Bobby Cox, the legendary University of Minnesota quarterback in the 1950s.

A 1971 article in the Minneapolis Tribune described Cox (later Platou, after remarrying) as "an attractive blonde" who used "women's intuition" when offering picks. In truth, she combed through sports stories and injury reports to prepare, and her accuracy rate was 70 to 80 percent as a result.

"Jimmy the Greek called her a lot to get some tips," said her daughter, Sarah Cox of Minneapolis, referring to the Las Vegas bookmaker and sportscaster. "She was a trailblazer in sports. She was more than a beautiful face; she was smart and she did the job well."

Susan Cox Platou of Wayzata died Christmas Day from lung disease. She was 83.

The Minneapolis Star also ran a sports column for many years called Ask Bronco, a mix of her insight and moxie. In her 1973 debut, a reader from Fridley asked if football players are "swingers."

"The only swingers I know play baseball," Bronco replied.

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Born in Minneapolis on May 1, 1935, Platou exhibited an early talent for painting and sculpture, studying art history at the University of Minnesota, where she met Cox. She taught briefly at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and her artwork was featured at the Brussels World's Fair in 1958.

Platou raised three children and was also a volunteer for many causes, including Planned Parenthood, the Special Olympics, the Raptor Center, the U's Alumni Association, the Guthrie Theater and the Breck School.

She was a devoted supporter of the Minnesota Orchestra. "Sue was a very bright light on the Minnesota Orchestra board: Perceptive, positive and totally committed," the orchestra said in a statement.

Platou chaired orchestra committees and served as president of WAMSO (now Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra) from 1984 to 1986 and as a director emerita of the orchestra board. "She was a trailblazer who made everything that she was involved in better and a kind person who was truly beloved," the orchestra said.

In 1977, she married Carl Platou, a visionary who led Fairview Health Systems. The two enjoyed traveling, especially to Sanibel Island in Florida, and spending summers at home on Lake Minnetonka. She entertained with aplomb — last-minute parties seemed like they "were planned for weeks," her daughter Sarah said. "She was inclusive and generous."

Platou appreciated beauty in art, music, and nature. "But most of all, she appreciated the beauty of what she saw in people," Sarah said. "She would look for and recognize the beauty inside of you and outside of you."

In addition to daughter Sarah, Platou is survived by sons Robert Cox of Los Angeles and Christopher Cox of Mound; stepchildren Ken Platou of Mount Shasta, Calif., Pepper Kenney of Peoria, Ill., Patsy Garlinghouse of Lihue, Hawaii, and Nancy Steinke of Minnetonka Beach; brother John Kumpf of Dallas and sister Mary Emerson of Woodbury; three grandchildren and seven step-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday at Wayzata Community Church, with visitation from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and a reception to follow.

4516 Wooddale Avenue, Edina, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Country Club Historic District

Statement of Significance:

The Country Club District, a well-planned suburban residential development dating from 1922, is significant as one of Minnesota's first restricted, comprehensive residential planning efforts, which became the prototype for Edina's subsequent residential developments; as a large homogeneous neighborhood of "historic revival architecture; and as the home of a large number of the Twin Cities' leaders in business, industry, communications, and civic affairs.

Planning for the Country Club District into a comprehensively developed residential community was begun by Samuel S. Thorpe and Thorpe Brothers Realty Company in 1922. In that year, the Brown and Browndale farms, as well as part of the Baird homestead, were purchased for the development. Between 1922 and 1924, Thorpe spent over one million dollars in platting the 300 acres into 585 homesites; planting and landscaping; installing and paving sidewalks and streets; installing water, gas, underground electrical wiring and sewers; and developing an eighteen-hole golf course and club house.

Many of the principles of "modern town planning," applied to post World War I developments such as the Olmstead Brothers' Palso Verdes Project near Los Angeles, Mariemont near Cincinnati, Roland Park near Baltimore, and the Country Club Districts near Charlottesville, Birmingham and Kansas City, were incorporated into the design of Thorpe's development. In many respects, Thorpe's development was modeled after J.C. Nichols' Country Club District in Kansas City -a landscaped development with curved streets, large contoured homesites, parks, and an eighteen-hole golf course. Thorpe borrowed the central theme represented in Nichols' development --a planned residential area, with streets paved and utilities installed before lots were sold; with detailed deed restrictions; control over the value and architecture of houses; and a neighborhood association under the developer's sponsorship to build community activities and work closely with the local government.

As a result of the strict adherence to these restrictions, Thorpe's idealized community of "the exclusive and select"—a community where you can be proud to live, proud of your home . . . and of your neighbor's home as well"—became a reality. The well-planned residential development envisioned by Thorpe, designed to be in close proximity to shopping, schools (in 1925 Thorpe donated part of Lot 16, Brown Section for construction of the Wooddale School), churches and a country club (an 18-hole golf course and club house were developed by Thorpe south of the district), is a district of well-designed and constructed homes, all but a few in an excellent state of preservation; well landscaped and maintained yards; no above ground electrical wiring; no obtrusive signage; contoured streets; and parks and intersection islands.

The majority of buildings in the district are two stories in height, set back twenty feet from sidewalks, built in proportion to adjacent buildings (the houses east of Wooddale Avenue are smaller in scale than those built to the west), and exhibit a minimum of alterations (additions and alterations have generally been limited to the rear facades of buildings).

The 554 buildings in the district, the majority constructed between 1924 and 1931, represent a significant concentration of historic revival architectural styles. In 1925, Thorpe Brothers Realty Company commissioned the Minneapolis architectural firm of Liebenberg and Kaplan to design model homes on Edina Boulevard and Moorland Avenue. The houses were designed in a variety of historic revival styles, including English Tudor, French Provincial and American Colonial. To a considerable degree, these houses set an architectural standard for later construction in the district.2 Historic revival styles, including American Colonial (158), American Georgian (6), Cape Cod Colonial (6), Dutch Colonial (4), English Cottage (180), English Georgian (3), English Tudor (20), French Provincial (11), Italian Renaissance (17), Mediterranean (67), New England Colonial (38), Norman (25), and Southern Colonial (1) inspired the design of 97% of the buildings in the district. The most popular designs are English Cottage (32%), American Colonial (29%), and Mediterranean (12%). The majority of buildings were designed and constructed by contractors. Following are descriptions of the most popular styles represented in the district.

The American Colonial Revival style, popular throughout the district from 1924 through the 1950s, is typified by a height of two stories; a second story overhang, usually with drops or pendants; strictly symmetrical facades; gabled roofs; a chimney at one or both ends; narrow clapboard siding; double hung windows, usually with shutters; and doors with classical trim.

The English Cottage style, popular throughout the district from 1924 to 1931, is characterized by a height of two stories; use of stone, brick or stucco as the principal construction material; steep triangular gables projecting above a gable or hip roof, and usually not continuous with the plane of the wall; extensive use of decorative brick or stone around semicircular door and garden gate openings, on the foundation and front steps; impressive chimneys, usually decorated with brick or stone, frequently the chimney is placed on the front facade; and use of "mock" half timbering.

The Mediterranean (Spanish Colonial Revival) style was popular in the design of houses throughout the district from 1924 to 1930. The Wooddale School on West 50th Street exhibits Mediterranean style features. Mediterranean style residences in the district are characteristically two stories in height; have white or cream-colored smooth stucco walls; low hip roofs, usually with red or green barrel tile; contain wrought iron grilles as decoration, such as window boxes, mock balconets and railings; and contain semicircular openings, mock arcades and recessed panels.

Twenty houses on Casco, Drexel, Wooddale and Moorland Avenues and on Edina Boulevard were designed in the English Tudor style from 1925 to 1936. The style, closely related to the English Cottage style, is characterized by a height of two stories; extensive use of half timbering with stucco or brick; multiple triangular gables projecting above the roof; impressive chimneys, usually decorated with brick and stone, and containing projecting chimney pots; doorways with the "Tudor arch", a distinctive, very wide, almost flat, but pointed arch; oriel windows, often with tracery or diamond shaped panes; sharply pitched roofs; and projecting bays.

The New England Colonial Revival style? used in the design of thirty-eight buildings throughout the district from 1924 to 1950, is characterized by a height of two to two-and-one half stories; gable roofs, usually with dormers; strictly symmetrical facades; double hung windows with shutters; side sing or wings; cornice with dentils; chimney at each gable end; centrally located door with classical trim; and use of brick as the principal construction material.

Seventeen houses in the district were constructed from 1924 to 1927 in the Italian Renaissance Revival style on Arden, Bruce, Casco, Drexel, Wooddale, and Browndale Avenues. Italian Renaissance Revival style features used in the design of these houses include a height of two stories; rectangular or square plans; vertically symmetrical door and window openings; smooth stucco walls; low hip roofs, often composed of barrel tile; use of semicircular arches, lintels and recessed panels; projecting cornices; placement of second story windows close to the cornice; and centered doorways with classical trim.

The French Provincial style was used in the design of eleven houses from 1926 to 1941 on Bruce, Drexel, Moorland and Wooddale Avenues, Edina Boulevard and Sunnyside Road. These houses contain the following French Provincial design characteristics: a height of two stories; deep hip roofs; segmentally arched windows, dormers and doors; vertically symmetrical placement of windows, dormers and doors, often decorated with shutters; brick or stucco as the principal construction materials; and corner quoins.

The Norman Revival style was used in the design of twenty-five houses on Browndale, Moorland, Casco, Drexel and Wooddale Avenues, Edina Boulevard, Edgebrook Place and Sunnyside Road. Characteristics of this style include a height of two stories; combination of hip and gable roofs; multiple triangular gables projecting above the roof; impressive chimneys with decorative brick or stone and capped with chimney pots; extensive use of half timbering; main entrance located in a round tower capped with a conical roof; extensive use of decorative patterned brick or decorative stone.

The district contains 199 buildings (36%) that are categorized as pivotal buildings of historical and/or architectural importance that define the significance of the district. 351 buildings (63%) are considered complementary to the district. Four buildings, all built in contemporary styles in the 1970s, are categorized as intrusive to the significance of the district. Following is a breakdown of categories within the district with corresponding dates of construction and architectural style designations.

Photo Credit: Edina Magazine via Edina Historical Society. Edina around 1930. Wooddale School, built in 1926, is near the upper right corner. The other difference is that it shows West 50th Street—the fork in the road next to the golf course is the junction of Eden Avenue and 50th Street. Edina Mills can be seen just to the right of the water. It’s partially obstructed by a tree.

Sue (Bronco) Cox

Features Sue (Bronco) Cox - news personality for WCCO-TV.

Mrs. Robert Cox

The article shows pictures of Mrs. Robert Cox who's address was 4516 Wooddale Ave., Edina in 1968.

1950 US Census

The following shows two sheets for the 1950s census. The first time no one was home, the second sheet details the life of John and Ethel Ritchie.

Edina Historic Plat Map

Two historical plat maps, dating back to 1949 and earlier, depict the precise location of the home.

Minneapolis, Minn. Volume 6a - Edina, Morningside, and St. Louis Park

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. The map includes the home at 4516 Wooddale Avenue along with the broader Country Club neighborhood in 1941.

About Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps:
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps were created in the late 19th century by Daniel Alfred Sanborn to help insurance companies assess fire risk. These detailed maps evolved alongside cities, providing valuable data on buildings and urban landscapes. While their use in insurance declined with technological advancements, they remain vital for historical research and urban planning.

Mr. and Mrs. John R. Ritchie

The article reads, "Mr. and Mrs. John R. Ritchie, 4516 Wooddale avenue, chose a different direction for their trip. They have gone to the World's fair in San Francisco."

John Ritchies Return

From July 5th, 1937:

"Mr. and Mrs. John R. Ritchie of 4516 Wooddale Avenue, returned on Tuesday from a two weeks' trip to Yellowstone National Park."

Beautiful Home Design Magazine

The article titled "The Classic Beauty of Colonial Doorways" by Gladys Lilly details the interest in Colonial-style architecture in 1931.

Office of U.S. Surveyor General

The survey from 1854 shows the area that is now south Minneapolis into Edina.

More about the survey: The Land Ordinance Act of 1785 established the rectangular survey system, later named the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), dividing western lands into grid-like townships and sections. This system facilitated the sale of surveyed land by the government, generating crucial revenue. Prior to the PLSS, a confusing landmark-based system called metes and bounds was used.

The PLSS relies on coordinates, with distances and bearings measured from north-south meridians and east-west base lines. The primary unit of land division is the Public Land Survey Township, each measuring six miles square and containing 36 sections, each one square mile (640 acres).

The Office of U.S. Surveyor General, established in 1796, oversaw land surveys as the nation expanded westward. It was later placed under the General Land Office (GLO) in 1836, then the Department of Interior in 1849. In 1925, the Surveyor General's office closed, and surveying duties were absorbed by the GLO, which was eventually abolished in 1946, with its functions transferred to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

In Minnesota, early surveys were conducted by the Surveyor General of Iowa and Wisconsin. The Office of Surveyor General of Minnesota was established in 1857, overseeing land surveys in the territory and state. Land east of the Mississippi was surveyed from the Galena Base Line, while land west of the Mississippi was surveyed from the Clarendon Base Line.

Survey contracts were awarded competitively to deputy surveyors, who conducted field work with crews, marking boundaries and recording measurements. Distances were measured using chains and links, with alignment determined by compasses. Monuments were placed at township and section corners, often with "bearing trees" nearby. In areas where chains couldn't be used, distances were calculated using triangulation.

Deputy surveyors also mapped physical features like lakes, rivers, and forests, noting soil type and vegetation in field notes. These records, now digitized, provide detailed information and are accessible online and preserved by the Minnesota State Archives.