Menu
Reserve

Pillsbury history

Home > Blog > Pillsbury history
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 Was on the Grounds of the Pillsbury Mansion? Reading the Original Site Plan

By John K

Sheet No. 1 of the Pillsbury Mansion drawings is not the house — it is…

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 Was in the Basement of the Pillsbury Mansion?

By John K

The original Hewitt & Brown basement plan names three fuel rooms, a boiler, a wine…

CategoriesHistory JournalCarved stone gable and rooftop figure of the Pillsbury Club mansion, shown in black and white against a dark winter sky.

Who Actually Built the Pillsbury Mansion?

By John K

Hewitt drew it and Duveen filled it. But the contractor who raised the Pillsbury Mansion…

CategoriesHistory JournalAn early view of the great hall and carved oak staircase inside the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis, showing the newel posts and panelled walls

What Was Upstairs in the Pillsbury Mansion? Reading the Original Second-Floor Plan

By John K

The original Hewitt & Brown second-floor plan of the Pillsbury Mansion labels five chambers, two…

CategoriesHistory JournalThe front steps and stone gateposts of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis photographed in 1980, with mature ivy and evergreens grown up across the English manor facade

Why Does Stevens Square Have So Many Old Brick Apartment Buildings? The Neighbourhood That Grew Up Beside the Pillsbury Mansion

By John K

In 1912 the Pillsbury Mansion got its building permit and Stevens Square began filling with…

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 Was a Flower Room? Reading the Original First-Floor Plan of the Pillsbury Mansion

By John K

The original first-floor plan of the Pillsbury Mansion labels a flower room, two iceboxes, and…

CategoriesHistory JournalA historic first-floor plan of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis showing the main hall, dining room, living room, library, conservatory, kitchen, butler's pantry and servants' dining room

What Was on the Top Floor of the Pillsbury Mansion?

By John K

A 1994 measured drawing of the attic level reveals a play room, a sewing room,…

CategoriesHistory JournalAn early view of the great hall and carved oak staircase inside the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis, showing the newel posts and panelled walls

Who Was Christened Inside the Pillsbury Mansion in 1938?

By John K

In January 1938 a Pillsbury grandson was christened at 100 East 22nd Street in a…

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

Where Did the Pillsbury Daughters Go to College?

By John K

A 1927 newspaper photo caught Helen Winston Pillsbury golfing in Virginia and revealed that all…

CategoriesHistory JournalThe oak-panelled Great Hall of the Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion in Minneapolis, with its carved staircase, hanging tapestry and painted barrel-vaulted ceiling — the room where the 1917 children’s cotillion would have been held

What Was a 1929 Wedding Inside the Pillsbury Mansion Like?

By John K

Mary Pillsbury married Oswald Lord in the mansion's great hall in 1929, on her parents'…

Login