534 Summit Ave
St Paul, MN 55102, USA

'English country manor' on St. Paul's Summit Avenue on market for $2.375 million

'English country manor' on St. Paul's Summit Avenue on market for $2.375 million
Ramsey Hill mansion with a "catslide" porte-cochere and formal gardens spans five lots. By Nancy Ngo Star Tribune

Among the many distinguished mansions and spacious homes along Summit Avenue in St. Paul is an estate known for its "catslide" porte cochere and grounds that evoke the English countryside.

Now, the Ramsey Hill home that sits on five lots, spans over an acre and boasts 8,500 square feet, seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and three apartments, is up for grabs.

"It feels like an English country manor. It's one of the most romantic homes I've seen built in the 1880s Victorian era," said listing agent Michael Smith. "And it's one of the most recognizable homes in St. Paul for having such a dramatic catslide port cochere."

A history of thought and care

Built in 1884, the home was designed by architect Abraham Radcliffe, known for several notable Summit Avenue homes as well as the Isaac Staples House in Stillwater.

The Summit Avenue home was built for Walter John Strickland Traill. In the 1920s, Homer P. Clark, former president of West Publishing Co., purchased the property and is believed to have added the catslide port cochere, Smith said.

The home has had other owners over the years. In the 1980s, brothers Morgan and Hub Nelson, impressed by the design drawn from Arts and Crafts, Storybook and Victorian styles, purchased the home.

The Nelsons come from a family of builders and carpenters, so it was only natural that they would look after the place and update it. Their father owned a construction company and built out several developments in the metro area. The brothers ran a business on Selby Avenue in St. Paul and later a mill shop, said sister Maren Nelson.

She said the Summit Avenue place became the family home. Morgan lived there during the first 10 years. Hub lived there during the latter years and the majority of the time.

Maren has lived there on and off and has witnessed all the care and updates that have gone into the place.

"The first thing they did was they removed five layers of linoleum from the kitchen. And then later on, they moved the kitchen," she said. "One time I came home and my walls would be missing. They'd do something like change the closet, and all my clothes would be someplace else."

Whenever possible, the family restored original features while enhancing them whenever they could.

"Because they had a millwork shop they had lots of beautiful new molding that they added," Maren said.

The home had many porches, so swapping out a three-season porch for a mudroom and office added to the home's functionality.

Hub modernized the mechanical systems, updating the insulation and installing a new roof. He also installed high-efficiency boilers and new windows and updated the electrical system and plumbing.

"Hub has done a remarkable job with maintenance of the home and updating it," Smith said. "He's done the experienced but tedious work of updating systems while preserving the really beautiful character and qualities that make the home so special."

Grand style

Maren said the family is downsizing, and Hub is spending more time at his other home in Grand Marais.

With so many updates over the years, the family hopes that anyone moving into it can just enjoy it.

One of her favorite features is the manicured garden. "They had all these arborvitae trees put in around it," Maren said. "No one can see it from the outside. It's very private, and that's part of the mystique."

Other highlights include six fireplaces, 10-foot ceilings and large windows that bring in an abundance of natural light. Original and custom details can be seen throughout, including built-in cabinets and bay windows.

There are plenty of bonus spaces, too, such as a porch, balcony, sunroom and exercise room. Two apartments are on the third floor, while a third unit is located on the garden level.

To say the primary bedroom is spacious would be an understatement. At more than 900 square feet, the bedroom includes a lounge, wet bar, den, two fireplaces, a walk-in closet, an en suite and a private balcony.

In total, the home has four suites of bedrooms with private bathrooms, and most have walk-in closets.

Smith said anyone living in the home, just a few doors from the James J. Hill House, will be living in one of the grand estates along Summit Avenue that has been carefully thought out.

"It's a remarkable property and a home that has been cherished for many years, and it's evident. When you walk through the home, you can really see how the wallpaper and light patterns work together and all these motifs kind of move from room to room," he said. "It's one great composition."

Michael Smith (651-324-6211; mikesmithrealty@gmail.com) has the $2.375 million listing.

534 Summit Ave in St. Paul - list for $2,375,000

From listing:

An Eclectic English Country Manor house, with architectural influences spanning the Arts & Crafts, Storybook and Victorian styles. Featuring its prominent "cat-slide" porte cochere, this remarkable estate remains one of St Paul's most recognizable homes. Sitting on just over an acre and comprised of 5 lots on top of Historic Ramsey Hill this romantic home, originally built in 1882, has been expanded, preserved and cherished over the years. At approximately 8,500 finished square feet this 7 bedroom 8 bathroom home is both grand and comfortable. With 10 foot ceilings and abundant natural light, the layout is compelling and full of delights such as built-in cabinets, bay windows, ornamental carved plaster ceilings, six fireplaces, and numerous porches looking out upon the surrounding formal gardens. The third floor has 2 apartments, perfect for guests or tenants. The garden level contains a gym, a cedar sauna and steam shower and yet another apartment.

(VIDEO) 534 Summit Ave in St. Paul

An Eclectic English Country Manor house, with architectural influences spanning the Arts & Crafts

Interview with Homer P. Clark

Internal Memorandum
Interview with Mr. Homer P. Clark of Minneapolis

In terms of service, Mr. Clark has one of the longest records. He was Class C Director of the Minneapolis Bank from 1921 - 1936 and Class B Director from 1921 – 1955. His term ends, on December 31, 1955

Mr. Clark, "who was born in Massachusetts, was taken to Minnesota at an early age and got his degree of bachelor of law at the University of Minnesota in 1394. He has been with the West Publishing Company since 1892, and this interest in law books and their publication has been the basis for a much wider interest in everything that happened in St. Paul where he lives. He was made treasurer of the publishing company in 1902, president in 1921, chairman of the board in 1932, and has been honorary chairman of the board since 1955. ln the meantime, he has engaged in directorships of various allied interests and has been very active in public affairs in his community. He is said to have an excellent knowledge of art and architecture, and he spoke at length on the beauty of the dome of the state capital and of the Renaissance architecture of the James Jerome Hill Reference Library.

Mr. Clark was vice-chairmen of the Liberty Loan Committee for the ninth district in World War I. The chairman was Mr. Theodore Wold, then governor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and said by Mr. Clark to be a very able and interesting man. In contrast to the New York way of having a big committee and scattering their energies all over a big city, Minneapolis had a small group in charge of the Liberty Loan. They did a great deal of their work ahead of time in the form of an allocation scheme which really amounted to an assessment of the wealthy men in the town and the district. Their situation was complicated by the fact that the district had then and still has a greet many foreign-born who had prospered in the United States. Of these, the Germans had a particularly difficult time with, their traditional loyalties at war with their new loyalties to the United States, and both of these sensitive to the public opinion of their fellows. Some of them were loathed to take Liberty Bonds. Others were simply in a state of paralysis, not knowing how much was expected of them or how they could accomplish the transaction, (it will be remembered that government bond-buying was a new thing in the United States at that time.)

Having made their study of available resources and done their allocations, the Liberty Bond Committee started out on a three-day campaign to accomplish their purpose. Mr. Clark told with great glee of having one particularly difficult prospect, who had refused even to see the Liberty Bond salesman. He took it in hand personally and by a combination of good salesmanship and what might be called polite blackmail, he convinced this German that he not only should purchase but that the thing he most wanted in the world was to purchase the allotted amount.

Mr. Clark said that the difficult people were not so much the German, who were highly aware of public opinion, but the Swedes who were herd to stir and who moved slowly insofar as purchasing these strange new bonds was concerned.

He said that Mr. Wold, Mr. Boy Young, and Mr. Peyton were the leaders in this campaign. Speaking further about Mr. Young, he suggested that Mr. Frederic Curtiss of the Boston Bank could tell a great deal about him. (It is curious that, in spite of the length of time that Mr. Young lived in Minneapolis and worked in the Minneapolis Bank, very few reminiscences came out about him. Almost everyone asked if I had seen him, but they did not respond with new information concerning him.)

Speaking of men who had headed the Minneapolis Bank, Mr. Clark said that Mr. Geery was a, good operating man, and to illustrate this, said that during the bank holiday day he had called Mr. Clark at 5 a.m. to tell him what was going on and to summon him to the bank for a directors meeting. Mr. Geery was a quiet man who had a whimsical way with bankers during the banking holiday, which quieted their fears and reduced blood pressures.

He said that Mr. Coffey, Mr. Shepard, and Mr. Miller were good men with their feet on the ground, that Mr. Perrin, the present chairman, had a quick grasp of bank affairs and was becoming a very good chairman in very short order.

Mr. Clark confirmed what he told me in other places, that the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank was in good shape but that they had to close on the banking holiday because of pressures elsewhere. He related the tale of one man who had taken out $100,000 in gold in order to pay off a mortgage, only to find that the man who held the mortgage would not accept gold. The problem then was what to do with it. His own bank, from which he had extracted the $100,000 in gold, had closed, on account of the bank holiday and so had the Federal Reserve Bank. There was no suitable place that would even take the gold in for safekeeping. He finally had to arrange a deposit in his own house and set up a guard system until the banks opened again.

Mr. Clark, unfortunately, is a man who has been busy most of his life end who has not written memoranda nor kept diaries. His record is undoubtedly to be found in the newspaper "morgues” in St. Paul and Minneapolis and in the files of the Minneapolis Bank as veil as the files of other organizations which he has served. He suggests, for instance, that the Minnesota Historical Society would be a good place in which to get material about banks as veil as about more obvious historical subjects.

Picture from the Minnesota History Society

Homer P. Clark residence, 534 Summit Avenue, St. Paul

Homer P. Clark residence, 534 Summit Avenue, St. Paul approximately 1935