"Living Museum" Mansion Tours At Linden Hill
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A quick history of Linden Hill
Built in 1898 the two neighboring homes of Charles A. Weyerhaeuser and Richard "Drew" Musser are a physical reminder of the "Lumbering Era" in Minnesota.
The nine-acre estate - with both houses - was used by the Musser family until 20 years ago, and is now an event center run by the nonprofit Friends of Linden Hill. The group decorates the homes each Christmas and conducts tours; they also host weddings, receptions and tea retreats. Visitors can even stay overnight in the bedrooms within the beautiful Musser mansion. Both houses were designed by architect Clarence Johnston who, a few years later, also designed the Congdon Mansion in Duluth Minnesota.
The Musser family began calling the estate "Linden Hill" in the 1920s, because of the many linden, or basswood, trees on the property. (In those days wealthy Americans liked to name their estates, as they did in England. The Congdons in Duluth called their place "Glensheen.")
One of the Linden Hill homes - the white one - had been virtually closed off after Musser's death in 1958; when it was reopened decades later, his toothbrush and razor were still in place in the bathroom as if to still be waiting for Mr. Mussers return.
Oh, what a world! What a world!
Most of the furniture and furnishings remain intact and undamaged, making it a living museum of life for the upper class in the area during the early 20th century. The green house also has an extensive collection of old dolls and "Wizard of Oz" memorabilia. This mansion is a "must see" if you are a fan of the 1939 classic movie. Margaret Hamilton (a.k.a. the "Wicked Witch of the West") was dear friends with Laura Jane Musser and visited Linden Hill many times during their lives.
Special spot on the Mississippi river
Long before the lumberman built on the river bank site, it had been a favored spot for American Indian tribes such as the Objibwe, said Marilyn Brown, a Linden Hill volunteer who's well-versed in its history.
"They revered any place on the river near a falls, and this is just a hop, skip and jump from the falls," Brown said. A big rock, still visible, was noted in the journals of explorer Joseph N. Nicollet, who traveled up the Mississippi River in the mid-1830s to its source at Lake Itasca. So the young Weyerhaeuser and Musser couldn't have found a better location for their side-by-side homes.
They managed the Pine Tree Lumber Co., which had been founded by their lumber magnate fathers. Although the two were bachelors when they built the homes, Weyerhaeuser married later the same year and moved his bride into the green house.
Musser lived next door alone until 1903, when he too married and started a family. Weyerhaeuser was the more active of the two buddies, preferring to be out in the woods with the men, Brown said. Musser was more of a pencil pusher, the inside guy on the team. By 1920, the trees on their thousands of acres of nearby land were all cut. Weyerhaeuser left town with his family, purchasing a mansion on St. Paul's Summit Avenue and working on other lumber businesses.
Weyerhaeuser mansion turned over for a nickel?
As the story goes, Weyerhaeuser turned over his share in the estate for a nickel to Musser, who stayed in Little Falls and went into the banking business. For the first few years, he let business associates live in the Weyerhaeuser home, but in the mid-1950s, Musser's daughter Laura Jane moved out of her family's home and into the green house next door.
Laura Jane - who'd closed up the white house after her father's death - was quite the community cultural coordinator. She gave music and dance lessons to children, sometimes taking them to concerts in the Twin Cities. She brought famous musicians like pianist Van Cliburn and contralto Marian Anderson to Little Falls. The bed where Van Cliburn slept is one of the highlights of the mansion tours. Laura Jane "updated" her house in the 1950s and 60s; it no longer has the pure "turn of the century" historic feel of the untouched white house, but retains a certain charm all its own.
Before she passed away in 1989, Laura Jane Musser made it clear she wanted the Linden Hill estate to be used for public purposes. Her trust eventually donated it to the city of Little Falls, MN.
Linden Hill lives on & thrives!
Owned by the City of Little Falls, Linden Hill, now officially called the "Linden Hill Historical Event Center", is managed by a group of dedicated volunteers called the Friends of Linden Hill. The Musser & Weyerhaeuser mansions are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Mussers and Weyerhaeusers embraced the spirit of philanthropy. Their generous contributions in the areas of art, music, literature and cultural enlightenment continue to impact people's lives to this day. The Linden Hill compound, just as it was in years past, is still being used for educational and cultural purposes - thus preserving a rich, long standing, historical tradition.
Please stop in for a tour to hear many more amazing stories of the Mussers & Weyerhaeusers and their beautiful homes. With our "Living Museum" tours, you will feel like you've become one with history. You may just find yourself wishing you never had to leave. You wouldn't be the first!
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