After visiting the cathedral, turn right on Summit Avenue. This is a prestigious street of Victorian mansions built by railroad and lumber barons. The earliest houses date from the 1860s, and each one seems to be more impressive than the last. Stroll down Summit Avenue and admire, or imagine you are back in the nineteenth century and you are surrounded by St. Paul's elite exercising their horses on the avenue.
The James J Hill house, at 240 Summit Avenue, is the largest single-family residence in Minnesota. Hill was a railroad baron who built the house on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi river and downtown St. Paul. After Hill's death his children gifted the house to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, who used it as offices. The church preserved the house well, and after the offices were moved elsewhere in 1978, the house was restored and opened to the public.
The house is home to the Minnesota Historical Society's art collection. The public can visit the house and galleries, and guided tours are available.
