Oliver G. Traphagen House

Oliver G. Traphagen House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	1509-1511 E. Superior St., Duluth, Minnesota
Coordinates:	46°48′7″N 92°4′46″W / 46.80194°N 92.07944°W / 46.80194; -92.07944Coordinates: 46°48′7″N 92°4′46″W / 46.80194°N 92.07944°W / 46.80194; -92.07944
Built:	1892
Architect:	Oliver G. Traphagen
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	75002091 [1]
Added to NRHP:	April 04, 1975

The Oliver G. Traphagen House is a house in Duluth, Minnesota. The architect, Oliver G. Traphagen, designed a number of buildings in Duluth, as well as in Hawaii. The house is a three-story Victorian mansion. The front wall is built of local red sandstone and features ornate carving and window dressing, along with towers and unusual dormers. The three other faces of the building are faced in red brick.^[2] It was originally designed as a duplex house with two separate entrances and very similar floor plans on either side, with the exception of the front windows. The west side has curved windows, while the east side has straight windows with wood wainscoting underneath. There are ten fireplaces in the house, all but one of which retain their original tile. The house also has antique light fixtures in most of the rooms. These fixtures operated on either gas or electricity, because at the time, interior electric wiring was still new and not yet proven.^[3]

Chester Congdon lived in the house from 1897 through 1908 until their nearby mansion, Glensheen, was completed.^[3] In 1919, the house was subdivided into nine apartments.^[3] The house was purchased in 1986 by Howard Klatzky and is now home to an advertising firm.^[2]

Detail of the sandstone work underneath one of the windows

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "HT Klatzky & Associates - The Difference: Where We Work". http://www.htklatzky.com/difference/duluth_office.html. Retrieved 2009-02-19. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b c} "HT Klatzky & Associates - The Difference: More Redstone". http://www.htklatzky.com/difference/more_redstone.html. Retrieved 2009-02-19. ^{[dead link]}