Home for the Empire Builder

One of Minnesota’s most magnificent homes, the historic James J. Hill House remains a testament to the wealth, ambition, and power of the nineteenth-century railroad titan who built it.

Founder of the Great Northern Railway and one of the nation’s richest men, James J. Hill began planning for his grand new house on Summit Avenue in the late 1880s. Designed for Hill’s large family, which included his beloved wife, Mary, and nine children, the house was the biggest and most expensive ever built in St. Paul, and it remains so to this day. 

With massive, unadorned walls of Massachusetts sandstone, the house’s exterior reflects Hill’s dominating personality. Yet Hill was also an art lover, and the home’s interior features surprisingly delicate woodwork, much of it carved by hand, among many other artisanal features as well as engineering innovations. The 36,000-square-foot house was finally completed in 1891, and it was Hill’s home until his death in 1916. 

After Mary Hill’s passing in 1921, family members donated the mansion to the St. Paul–Minneapolis Archdiocese, which used it for classes, residences, and offices over the next fifty years. In 1978 the Minnesota Historical Society acquired the house and undertook extensive repairs and restoration before opening it to the public for tours. 

A Home for the Empire Builder is the first full account of the landmark’s history, complemented by photographs that capture the sophistication and grandeur of the Gilded Age.