Not much has changed at this house in Duluth. It looks pretty much the same as it did when it was constructed in 1909-1910. The nearly 7,400-square-foot house was built for Henry Myers of the Myers Brothers Investment Company, his wife Lucy, and their son, Cecil.
The Myers Brothers had built a small real estate and investment empire in Duluth by 1910. Henry and his brother, Benjamin, built Park Terrace – an opulent building of Victorian townhouses located on a steep hill just off of Mesaba Avenue – in 1890. Henry, Benjamin, and another brother lived in the townhouses for several years before moving on.
When Henry and Lucy decided to move from Park Terrace, they commissioned this two-story Richardsonian Romanesque style house. Not content to have a home that fades into the background, Henry and Lucy chose to use black basalt on the exterior. The rock came from nearby blasting to grade nearby 25th Avenue East.
Inside, the best parts of Craftsman, Arts & Crafts, and Beaux-Arts design were used to create opulent spaces. Marble fireplaces, molded plaster, exotic woods, and hand-stenciled trim accented the rooms.
The family moved into their new home on Thanksgiving Day 1910. Once Cecil moved out, it was just Henry and Lucy in the house. They lived there until they died in the 1930s.
Cecil and his young family moved back to Duluth from Minneapolis to live in the home for about a decade. Subsequent owners have done a fantastic job maintaining the home’s original character. It remains a private residence.