To step into the famed Glensheen estate is to breathe in the very perfume of the Gilded Age, with its bespoke furniture, lush textiles and richly carved wood. It is a powerful elixir for design enthusiasts, made all the more glorious in its setting alongside shimmering Lake Superior.
“I liken it to a church,” says longtime Glensheen Board President Dennis Lamkin. “From the moment you enter, you know it deserves respect.” It was constructed between 1905 and 1908, a time when Duluth boasted more millionaires per capita than any other city in the world. Mining magnate Chester Congdon and wife Clara built the 39-room, English country–style estate for their six children and nephew. The University of Minnesota took it over in 1977.
Visitors are first greeted by the opulent entrance hall, where finely hand-carved oak seems to glow from within. Fumed with ammonia, the wood was then shellacked and waxed, forever preserving its angelic hue. Nearby alabaster-topped chandeliers and sconces shimmer with a golden halo effect.
It’s this extraordinary attention to detail that sets Glensheen apart. Every settee, sideboard and drapery seems carefully curated for a single spot, where it has remained hauntingly in place for more than a century.
Custom furniture by the William A. French Furniture Company of Minneapolis adds drama to an upstairs bedroom, where an elegant art nouveau whiplash pattern is carved into the headboard. That same motif is repeated in the nearby chair, nightstand and desk — a tour de force of design continuity.
“It is a testament to the quality of the workmanship,” says Lamkin. “That’s why it has endured all these years.” For example, records show the sumptuous fabric for the drapes in the living room cost $8,000 — “the price of a modest home at the time,” Lamkin notes. “That’s quality at the absolute highest level.”
And you’ll find that quality in every room, where perfect proportions and pleasing harmonies feel especially rich, from the silver andirons in the dining room with their fruit and flower motif to the intricately carved central balustrade evoking Elizabethan patterns. Even the tack for the horses carries specially designed Congdon silver monograms.
But the real visual gem is surely the emerald-green breakfast room overlooking the lake. Like a faceted jewel, the Arts and Crafts–inspired room dazzles in cool elegance. Glistening green tile from Rookwood Pottery line both the walls and the floor. Oak leaves dance across the stained-glass windows while acid-treated sugi wood makes the furniture appear black as coal — an ode to nature inside and out.
But more than the furnishings and the fabrics, there is a feel to Glensheen that endures, a spirit of life infusing every room. It’s easy to imagine walking the halls during a thunderstorm, eating Christmas dinner in the dining room or sleeping in a giant canopy bed. The chill of the lake and the sheer remoteness of Duluth cast a spell that is both unexpected and unforgettable.
“There can be waves splashing on the shore and winds howling over the house,” Lamkin says. “In the winter it gets downright cold.” And yet in the midst of this ever-changing landscape, Glensheen remains steadfast, a gracious way of life, frozen in time at 3300 London Road.
