Overview

The Charles Lyon House is one of the oldest houses in Loring Park. Master builder Frank Griggs McMillan designed it in the Shingle Style. 

• Location: 425 Oak Grove Street
• Neighborhood: Loring Park

Historic profile

The Charles Lyon House is one of the oldest houses in Loring Park. Master builder Frank Griggs McMillan designed it in the Shingle Style. 

The Minneapolis Park Board purchased the land for Central (now Loring) Park in 1883. It was the first park in the city. Wealthy families built houses on the open land around the new park.  

Charles was the owner of the first wholesale chemical firm in the Northwest. Charles lived here with his wife Martha. McMillan was a local contractor who worked with many prominent local architects. He built Butler Square North, the Pillsbury Library, and several other houses in the city. McMillan was elected to the Minnesota Senate and served from 1891-1894.

The house is three stories tall and clad in wood siding, with wood shakes on the third story. The roof is cross-gabled with a conical roof above the northwest corner bay. An open front porch wraps around to the east elevation where it is enclosed. The first story features several types of windows. The west elevation has a set of arched windows, a round window, and a bay window with stained glass. The third story features diamond pane casement windows. Many of the third-story windows are recessed and the walls curve into them. Houses of this style were less common in the late 1800s than Queen Anne and Colonial Revival homes. Prominent master architect Harry Wild Jones popularized Shingle Style in Minneapolis.

In 1954, the house was converted into a nursing home. In 1987, it was converted into an office and a two-story rear addition was built. The first story of the addition is a carport. The second story has a rooftop deck.

Charles’ father, Daniel Lyon, built a house next door in 1892, which is also a landmark. The Charles Lyon House is one of the few remaining houses from this era on Oak Grove Street. Most single-family houses in Loring Park have been demolished. They have been replaced by multi-family apartments and commercial buildings.