The Hill House

James J. Hill built a house that symbolized success, but one that also suited him and his family.

Historic Hill House front, about 1905

The firm of Peabody, Stearns, and Furber designed a simple, forceful, and direct house in the massive Richardsonian Romanesque style. Hill oversaw the planning, construction, and furnishing of the house as if it were a new branch of the railroad. He rejected stained-glass window designs by Tiffany and Company, saying they were "anything but what I want," and even replaced the architects when they ignored his orders to the stonecutters. He engaged Boston firm Irving and Casson to finish the interiors.

Completed in 1891, the mansion was the largest and most expensive home in Minnesota. It contained 36,000 square feet on five floors including 13 bathrooms, 22 fireplaces, 16 crystal chandeliers, a two-story skylit art gallery, a 100-foot reception hall, and a profusion of elaborately carved oak and mahogany woodwork. Sophisticated technical systems throughout the mansion provided central heating, gas and electric lighting, plumbing, ventilation, security, and communication. The final cost totaled $931,275.01 including construction, furnishings, and landscaping for the three-acre estate.

The home served as the center for the public and private lives of the Hill family for the next 30 years. Mary T. Hill kept a watchful eye over the household including the large domestic staff. She hired maids and cooks, inspected the kitchens, and served as hostess at countless dinners and receptions. "I feel it is necessary to know just where everything is and how it is," she commented in her diary.

Mrs. Hill maintained the house after Hill’s death in 1916 until her own death five years later. In 1925, family members purchased the mansion from the estate and presented it to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul. For the next half century the structure served as an office building, school, and residence for the church until it was acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1978. Recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1961, the James J. Hill House recalls the powerful era of the Northwest’s "Empire Builder."

Read more about the James J. Hill House: "The James Hill House: Symbol of Status and Security" by Barbara Ann Caron from the Summer 1997 issue of Minnesota History.

Historic Hill House from the back, about 1900

• Watch a clip from the video, "James J. Hill: Empire Builder"