Cordenio Severance House

Cordenio Severance House
Eastern façade of the Cordenio Severance House
Nearest city Cottage Grove, Minnesota
Coordinates 44°50′56″N 92°54′12″W / 44.84889°N 92.90333°WCoordinates: 44°50′56″N 92°54′12″W / 44.84889°N 92.90333°W
Area 1.9 acres (0.77 ha)
Built 1880
Architect Cass Gilbert
Architectural style Classical Revival, Italianate
Governing body Private
MPS Washington County MRA (AD)
NRHP Reference # 76001077[1]
Added to NRHP June 03, 1976

The Cordenio Severance House is a mansion in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, United States, built for attorney Cordenio Severance. The mansion, also known as Cedarhurst, was first built as a simple country farm house shortly after the American Civil War. It was expanded in 1886 to serve as the summer residence of the Severance family. Between 1911 and 1917, additions designed by noted architect Cass Gilbert expanded the house into a mansion with 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) and 26 rooms. It has two neoclassical columned porticos, a 100-foot (30 m) veranda, a formal ballroom with a pipe organ, three fireplaces, and an English rose garden.[2] It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Cordenio Severance was well-connected politically. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and William Howard Taft all visited the mansion, and Central Intelligence Agency meetings were once held in the library. The mansion also hosted international policy meetings.[3]

The house is now owned by True Thao and his family. They have restored the mansion, which hosts weddings, receptions, and business meetings.[3]

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  2. "Historic Preservation Sites: Severance House (Cedarhurst)". City of Cottage Grove Community Development: Historic Preservation Sites. City of Cottage Grove. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Trompeter, Jeanette (April 23, 2007). "Finding Minnesota: Discovering Cedarhurst Mansion". Retrieved 2009-10-21.

External links