Overview

The Morse House is an excellent example of the Italian Villa style in Minneapolis.  

• Location: 2325-27 Pillsbury Avenue South
• Neighborhood: Whittier

Historic profile

The Morse House is an excellent example of the Italian Villa style in Minneapolis. It was built for Elisha Morse, Jr. and his wife, Lizzie.

Elisha formed the successful Stevens, Morse, & Newell Grocers with two other men in 1869. Their business was located at 93 Nicollet Street. The business did well, enabling Elisha to afford to build a grand house.

Lizzie and Elisha moved into the house in 1874, likely soon after it was built. It is two stories tall with a cross-gabled, low-pitched roof. The roof has wide eaves with ornate brackets and dentil molding. A cupola tops the house in the center. It has a barrel-vault roof with decorative brackets. Each side of the cupola has two arched windows. This feature led to its nickname as the Cupola House.

On the first story of the house, there is a wraparound porch with square columns and decorative brackets. This was added between 1885 and 1912. The porch roof is used as a balcony and has a simple balustrade and square posts. The walls of the house have flat plank siding that was cut to imitate stone. The siding was painted with a mixture of paint and sand to further resemble stone. This technique was rarely used in Minnesota. Many of the windows have segmental arch hoods.

The house was moved in 1991 from its original location at 2402 4th Avenue South to its current location. The construction of Interstate 35W had considerably altered the setting of its original site. The house was fully restored when it was relocated. Two other residential buildings were constructed on its new parcel.