Overview

The Legg House is a typical middle-class home in the Queen Anne style within a late 19th century tract housing development. 

• Location: 1601 Park Avenue  
• Neighborhood: Elliot Park 

Historic photo (1980)

Current photo (2006)

Architecture

• Architectural Style: Queen Anne
• Architect: N/A

Use

• Historic use: Residential
• Current use: Residential

Construction

• Construction date: 1887
• Contractor: George H. Hoit and Company 

Significance

• Area(s) of significance: Architecture
• Period of significance: 1887
• Date of local designation: 1984
• Date of National Register designation: 1976
• Designation: Exterior

Historic profile

The Legg House is a typical middle-class home in the Queen Anne style within a late 19th century tract housing development.  

Harry Legg and his wife Dora owned a jewelry store in downtown Minneapolis on the corner of Nicollet Avenue and Fourth Street. Their home was built in 1887. It has a stone block foundation and smooth wood lap siding. There is a prominent rounded tower on the northwest corner with textured shingles. The upper floors feature several small decorative windows. The original wrap-around porch was altered to be front-facing only. The painted columns and spindlework details remain. A gabled roof, tower, wraparound front porch, and varied wall textures are common elements of the Queen Anne style. 

The interior is largely the same. The butler's pantry was converted into two bathrooms. The three fireplaces on the first floor have been sealed. The home's ornate woodwork may have come from the "made to order" catalogs that were prominent at the time. Consumers could conveniently shop from the privacy of their homes with catalogs. They also provided more options for buyers to choose from without traveling.  

Tract development offered a solution to Minneapolis's growing population in the late 1800s. This type of development built similar homes on smaller lots at the same time. Construction was cheaper and faster. This increased the overall supply of homes and lowered the cost of housing.

Photo credit

• 1970 photo: Courtesy of Hennepin County Library 
• 2006 photo: Minneapolis Department of Community Planning and Economic Development

Work cited

• John B. Vetrano, "National Register of Historic Places – Nomination Form: Harry F. Legg House," February 1976
• “Forgotten Minnesota – Harry F. Legg House,” April 2020
• Star Tribune archives
• Historical Society of Cecil County, “The 1880’s and the Rise of Mail-Order Catalogues,” 2018