661 Quinnell Avenue North
Lakeland, MN, USA

661 Quinnell Avenue North, Lakeland, MN, USA

The John T. Cyphers House is a historic house in Lakeland, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1858 using an early form of concrete poured around undressed rock. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 for having state-level significance in the theme of architecture. It was nominated as a rare Minnesota example of Northern European-style masonry, particularly unusual in a logging region with plentiful lumber.

Construction

Early Lakeland settler John T. Cyphers read an article in an 1855 edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press suggesting a concrete mixture as a building material. This mixture, known at the time as "grout", comprised lime, sand, mud, and gravel. In 1858 Cyphers began constructing a house for himself using this method. He formed the core of the walls with small, undressed boulders. He outlined the two-foot-thick walls with wooden frames and poured in the grout. The principle walls were all built this way, but above the first story the gables, roof, and dormers are all wood.

Description

The John T. Cyphers House is a small, one-story cottage with a lower wing projecting from the rear. The main entrance is centered on the long west façade, flanked symmetrically by a pair of windows on either side. Directly above the windows are two dormers projecting from the roof, mirrored by another two dormers facing the rear. The house is largely plain, but there are Gothic Revival decorations in an arch above the door, arched windows on the gable ends, and rusticated wooden trim. Much of this trim is covered up by modern roofing material, and the carved bargeboards are gone. A 20th-century owner recoated the outer walls to prevent spalling of the original grout.

National Register of Historic Places - John T. Cyphers House

Statement of Significance:

The house is significant as one of the few examples in Minnesota of a type of masonry construction used in ancient north European buildings. The one-foot-thick exterior walls are made of relatively small, unsplit boulders covered almost entirely with troweled mortar. The use of masonry for a residence in the St. Croix Valley was particularly rare as lumber milling was the principal industry of Lakeland and the other river communities at the time of its construction in 1858. The house was built for his own use by Mr. John T. Cyphers.

Mr. Cyphers lived in the building for only several years after its completion. Since then, extensive exterior alterations may have been discouraged by the massive walls. Except for the period of 1887 to 1921 during which it was occupied by Mrs. Mary V. Caldwell, the building has had many tenant The William Johnsons who owned the building from 1942 to early 1970, however having much respect for the quality and character of the house, did much to preserve the rapidly deteriorating structure. Its present owner is planning a careful restoration.