Menu
Reserve

Our Blog

Home > Blog
CategoriesHistory JournalHistoric photograph of the front of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis seen through bare trees, showing the gables and the balustraded terrace wall along the street.

Who Were the Pillsbury Mansion’s Neighbours on Washburn Hill in 1913?

By John K

In 1913 the Minneapolis Journal described three new mansions facing the rising art museum: Gale,…

CategoriesHistory JournalThe oak-panelled dining room of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis, one of the tall first-floor rooms drawn in section on the architects’ 1916 sheet.

Why Did a 1913 Newspaper Call the Pillsbury Mansion’s Pantry Perfect?

By John K

In December 1913 a Star Tribune home page held up the Pillsbury Mansion's butler's pantry…

CategoriesClub LifeA vintage white Minneapolis Trolley waiting at dusk outside the lit arched entrance of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion, with the stone gate piers alongside.

What Should You Do Before a Minneapolis Holiday Lights Trolley Ride?

By John K

Most Minneapolis holiday lights trolleys check you in at a bar. Ours boards inside an…

CategoriesClub LifeCocktails on the bar at the Pillsbury Club in Minneapolis, served in the Gilded Age surroundings of the Charles S. Pillsbury mansion.

What Can You Eat and Drink at the Pillsbury Club?

By John K

Cheese curds, State Fair pretzel bites and smashburgers, served under carved English oak. Here is…

CategoriesHistory JournalColour illustration of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in 1916, showing the full corner site, the gabled roofline, the clustered chimney stacks and the balustraded terrace wall along the street.

Why Did the Pillsbury Mansion Sit Unbuilt for Four Years?

By John K

In January 1912 the Minneapolis Journal reported that Charles S. Pillsbury would finally resume a…

CategoriesHistory JournalA seventeenth-century painted glass roundel in a Pillsbury Mansion window showing a standing figure in silver armour with a gold sash, lettered GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS with the years 1611 and 1632.

Why Are Three Swedish Kings in the Windows of the Pillsbury Mansion?

By John K

Three roundels of ancient glass in the Pillsbury Mansion are labelled in Latin: Carolus IX,…

CategoriesHistory JournalThe carved stone chimneypiece in the library of the Pillsbury Mansion, flanked by carved oak figures and lit by leaded glass, bearing the Tallow Chandlers guild arms granted in 1456.

Whose Coats of Arms Are Carved Into the Pillsbury Mansion?

By John K

Chess rooks, a guild’s 1456 arms, a marriage carved in oak and a shield above…

CategoriesHistory JournalPeriod photograph of the oak-panelled dining room in the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion, with a long carved table, high-backed chairs and an ornamental plaster ceiling.

What Held Up the Floors and Stairs of the Pillsbury Mansion? Sheet No. 11 Answers in Steel

By John K

Sheet No. 11 of the Pillsbury Mansion drawings cuts the house lengthwise and letters the…

CategoriesClub LifeThe dimly lit speakeasy-style bar room at the Pillsbury Club, with oak panelling, a coffered ceiling, a chandelier and a wall of amber stained glass behind the bar.

Do You Have to Be a Member to Visit the Pillsbury Club?

By John K

No membership card required. Here is what "private, members-only" really means at the Pillsbury Club…

CategoriesHistory JournalColour illustration of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in 1916, showing the full corner site, the gabled roofline, the clustered chimney stacks and the balustraded terrace wall along the street.

What Does the Back of the Pillsbury Mansion Look Like? Reading the Side and Rear Elevations

By John K

Three Hewitt & Brown drawings nobody photographs: the east, west and rear elevations of the…

Login