5590 W Bald Eagle Blvd
St Paul, MN 55110, USA

E. H. Hobe House-Solheim - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The E. H. Kobe House or "Solhelm" (Sunshine House) designed in 1897 by architect C. F. -Struck, is historically and architecturally significant as the home of Engelbrecht H. Hobe, a Norwegian Immigrant who served in the Norwegian Consulate for forty-nine years and was one of Minnesota's most prominent Norwegian-Americans, as the house in which Hobe entertained a number of Norwegian delegations visiting the Twin Cities, and as by far the largest and most intact Victorian mansion still standing on Bald Eagle Lake in northern Ramsey County.

Of the vast numbers of European immigrants who came to Minnesota in the nineteenth century, the Norwegians were among the earliest to arrive, beginning around 1825. They soon became the third largest ethnic group in the state, ranking in number behind Germans and Swedes. In 1870 the then-United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway established a consulate in St. Paul to help oversee its commercial interests in this country. Norwegian born Hagbarth Sahlgaard was appointed Consul. By 1910, over 26% of the total number of Norwegians in America lived in Minnesota, according to the United State Census. In that year there were more Norwegians in Minnesota than in any other two states combined.

One Norwegian immigrant to Minnesota, Engelbrecht Hagbart Hobe, was born in Sondeled near Riser, Norway, in 1860 and came to St. Paul in 1883. Hobe first worked for the Norwegian newspaper Nordvesten (published in St. Paul from 1881-1907). and later, with Swedish Norwegian Consul Hagbarth Sahlgaard, established the E.H. Hobe Lumber Company at 315 Jackson Street in St. Paul which obtained lumber from Sahlgaard's mill in Knoxmills, Wisconsin. Hobe and Sahlgaard also operated a real estate and steamship ticket business. When the Norwegian American steamship line was established, Hobe served as its first general agent in America, a position from which he retired in 1925.

In 1891 Hobe was appointed Swedish-Norwegian Vice-Consul. When his business partner Sahlgaard died in 189.2, Hobe succeeded him as Consul and was charged with the responsibility of transacting commercial negotiations between Norwegian and American businesses, serving as a representative of the Kingdom of Sweden and Norway, and dealing with citizenship matters. Five years later, in 1897, Hobe built a mansion which he named "Solheim" on a several hundred-acre estates on the western shores of Bald Eagle Lake, approximately ten miles northeast of St. Paul.

Hobe's role as a Scandanavian diplomat and prominent member of the Norwegian community continued well into the twentieth century. In 1905, when Norway and Sweden became two separate nations, Hobe became a Consul of Norway with jurisdiction over Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. In 1909 Swedish King Gustav V presented Hobe with a Swedish medal of Honor for his diplomatic work. In 1915 Hobe founded the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce, one of several Norwegian American organizations he helped to establish in the Twin Cities.

Kobe and his family lived at Solheim: until 1917 when they moved to 565 Dayton Avenue in St. Paul. The Hobes then maintained Solheim,, as a summer home. In June of 1939 when Norwegian Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha and their entourage came to the Twin Cities for a four-day visit, Kobe supervised all arrangements and entertained the royal couple at Solheim. During the visit. Prince Olav honored Kobe by making him a Commander with Star of the Royal Order of St. Olaf.

Hobe died one year later, in 1940, and was survived by his wife and daughter Ragnhild, who was the wife of accomplished St. Paul architect James S. Brodie. After Robe's death, his heirs formed the Solheim Corporation to oversee his vast estate. Over the next several years the corporation sold some of Solheim's lakeshore property and donated a parcel of land to Ramsey County for use as a nature preserve. In 1957, Solheim was sold by Robe's descendants and has been owned by several parties since.

The Engelbrecht R. Robe Papers. Minnesota Historical Society. "Robe, Norse Consul, Dies Unaware of Nazi Invasion." Minneapolis Star-Journal, April 19, 1940.

Holmquist, June D., ed. They Chose Minnesota. A Survey of the State's Ethnic Groups. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1981. Penning, Greg and Gail (former owners of "Solheim"), letter to Patricia Murphy, May 19, 1981. Woolworth, Nancy L. The White Bear Lake Story. White Bear Lake: White Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce, 1968.