So Minnesota: Glensheen Mansion

From the White House to Graceland, there are some famous homes across the country.

The Glensheen Mansion in Duluth is the most visited home in our state.

“We have typically over 100,000 annually,” Mike Mayou with Glensheen Mansion said. “You come in here and the amazement you feel it’s kind of like you’re stepping back in time.”

Perched on the shore of Lake Superior, Chester Congdon, an iron mining executive and his wife Clara built the 39-room estate in 1908.

“The cost was $854,000 at the time, which is $28 million in today’s money,” Mayou said.

In the early 1970s, Hollywood came to Glensheen. The horror movie, You’ll Like My Mother, starring Patty Duke and Richard Thomas, was filmed at Glensheen. In 1977 a real-life horror took place at Glensheen when Elizabeth, the Congon’s daughter, and her nurse were murdered at the home.

“In respect to the family, we mostly focus on the history of the house, the history of the family that lived here, and not so much on those tragic events,” Mayou said.

Glensheen was donated to the University of Minnesota and in 1979 the estate opened for tours.