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Daily stories from the history of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion and the people, places, and treasures behind it.

CategoriesHistory JournalThree painted-glass panels in the Pillsbury Mansion windows labeled America, Europa and Africa, each a single costumed figure inside an octagonal leaded frame

Why Are There Painted Figures Labeled America, Europa and Africa in the Pillsbury Mansion’s Windows?

By John K

Painted glass figures labeled America, Europa and Africa sit in the Pillsbury Mansion's windows. Here…

CategoriesHistory JournalA period illustration of the Pillsbury Mansion library, with paneled walls, fitted bookshelves, a leaded bay window and a carved chimneypiece at left.

What Did the College of Arms Find When It Read the Coat of Arms on the Pillsbury Mansion’s Fireplace?

By John K

A 2025 College of Arms report identified the arms carved on the Pillsbury Mansion's stone…

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 Do Two Snapshots of the Pillsbury Mansion’s First Winters Show Us?

By John K

Two undated family photos show the Pillsbury Mansion in its earliest winters, when the landscaping…

CategoriesHistory JournalPeriod photograph, 1909: Helen “Nelle” Pillsbury seated against oak panelling with four of her children in white dresses and hair bows, eight years before the Christmas cotillion at the new mansion

Did the Pillsbury Children Spend Their Summers at Lake Minnetonka?

By John K

A handwritten family photo places young Katharine and Philip Pillsbury at Wayzata — a look…

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 Is There a Luther Rose in the Pillsbury Mansion’s Stained Glass?

By John K

Among centuries-old English and Continental glass, one small roundel is a Lutheran devotional seal —…

CategoriesHistory JournalPeriod portrait of Count Louis Pomian Bodenham Lubienski (born 1852), the last Bodenham owner of Rotherwas Court, Herefordshire — a photograph by Jakeman & Carver

Did Minneapolis Read About Rotherwas Before the Pillsburys Ever Owned a Board of It?

By John K

A 1913 Minneapolis Journal wire story described Rotherwas Court's panelling going up for sale in…

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.

What Did a Newspaper Columnist See Inside the Newly Rescued Pillsbury Mansion in January 1969?

By John K

Barbara Flanagan's 1969 Minneapolis Star column toured the just-saved Pillsbury Mansion — and left a…

CategoriesHistory JournalA leaded stained glass roundel in a Pillsbury Mansion window: a heraldic shield, a crowned lion, a helmeted figure, a bearded man in a ruff and the date 1636.

Why Does the Pillsbury Mansion’s 1636 Stained Glass Roundel Carry Two Different Dates? Reading a Window Made of Fragments

By John K

A stained glass roundel in the Pillsbury Mansion is dated 1636, but a portrait inside…

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 Was Duveen Brothers Still Writing to the Pillsbury Next Door in 1947? A Carbon Copy From the Family Files

By John K

A 1947 Duveen Brothers letter to Alfred F. Pillsbury, found in the family files, shows…

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.

What Did the Pillsbury Mansion’s Library Look Like in 1914? A Newspaper’s “Book-Lover’s Nook” Column Walks Through It, Detail by Detail

By John K

A January 1914 Star Tribune column described the Pillsbury Mansion library: castle-oak walls, rose velour,…

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