Summit Hill Historic Home, St. Paul

This weeks Historic Home is located at 489 Grand Hill in St Paul, Minnesota.

The home was built for Carl Schuneman, the owner of Schuneman’s Department Store in downtown Saint Paul. The design was inspired by his wife who wanted to feel like she was back on the East Coast. Allen H. Stem, from the local St Paul firm, Reed and Stem was hired as the architect, who you might recognize as one of the architects of Grand Central Station in New York.

Built in the Tudor Revival style, the architectural details make the home stand out in a neighborhood of Queen Annes. Those details include the steeply pitched gable dormers, the two semi-hexagonal two story bays on the front facade of the home, and the stonework on the outside.

The home is quite large on the inside, having 11 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, and five fireplaces. The current owner purchased the home in 1995 and hosts events for the Institute of Vocal Artistry on the main floor, an area that also saw vocal performances by Carl Schuneman’s daughter.

3 Responses to “Summit Hill Historic Home, St. Paul”

  1. Anonymous says:

    I love walking by this beautiful house because it looks like a castle and almost every afternoon you can hear a beautiful singing voice coming from the inside!
    I think that the owner sing Opera!

  2. Cynthia Schuneman Piper says:

    This home was built my my grandparents in the early 1920’s. They had three children. Grandmother, Helen Judah Schuneman died in 1935 and grandfather stayed there until WW II. He then rented it to the Lincoln Harris family who finally purchased it in 1946. Somewhere during the Harris’s ownership, the winding staircase to the third level was closed in. (Presumably for heat as the windows were all leaded single pane with stained glass inserts). Mrs. Harris died in 1994 and the house came on the market. It was purchased by a very famous voice coach, who supposedly bought it for the acoustics. She opened the third floor, remodeled the kitchen, changed the heating system and has been very happy for the last 20 years. Supposedly there is a mark on a back alley wall where my father and uncle, as kids, were playing with a dynamite cap and stuffed a pipe with toilet paper and rocks. The explosion ripped out of the pipe and landed on Mrs. Shepherd’s wall and holy hell broke loose. My father was grounded for three weeks.

    • Bruno Molon says:

      Dear Cynthia. I am a researcher that had once studied the case of Helen Judah Schuneman’s oldest brother Ben H. Judah. I have been trying to locate someone who may have family pictures of her family in Chicago growing up. Especially of Ben H. Judah. These would be kept confidential and would not be published. Any assistance would be appreciated.
      Thank you.

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