Overview

The Case-Lang House is a rare remaining example of an 1860s house in Minneapolis. 

• Location: 1508 Dupont Avenue North
• Neighborhood: Near North

Historic profile

The Case-Lang House is a rare remaining example of an 1860s house in Minneapolis. Its various owners made changes and additions over time. It features both Greek Revival and Italianate styles. These were the preferred styles of many Civil War-era homes. 

The two-story house was built for Emanuel Case and his wife Mary between 1865 and 1870. Case was one of Minneapolis' first merchants. He arrived in Saint Anthony in 1851 and acquired the land to build the house in 1857. Case died in 1871. In 1880, Case's family sold the house to Peter Mootz, a saloon keeper. Mootz married Matilda Heruth in 1891. In 1911, John Lang bought the house. Architect Charles W. Nelson bought the house from Lang's family in 1981. That same year, the house was almost demolished to build a shopping center. Nelson moved the house six blocks west to its current location. Nelson also restored the house’s 1885 appearance.  

The house has a low-pitched gable roof, eave returns, and a wide friezeboard under the eaves. These are characteristics of the Greek Revival style. The house also has sawn brackets, two-over-two, double-hung windows, and one-story porches on the west and south elevations. These are characteristics of the Italianate style. Mootz added two first-story bay windows and bargeboard in the gable end, which are Victorian elements. Lang added a clapboard railing on the porches and a rear kitchen on the second floor. The house retains wood features from the mid-1800s on the inside.