Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Trettel Ryan Hanson
Hi Matthew Trettel, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In Spring 2023, we were beginning the journey of starting our family. We realized that our home in South Minneapolis just wasn’t the right fit, so we started the search for a new ‘forever home’.
Matthew had seen the Alfred Pillsbury mansion dozens of times on real estate websites and was always drawn to the architecture, history and one-of-a-kind woodwork. The home had been for sale for a number of years and until 2023, seemed unapproachable.
Matthew convinced Ryan to set up a showing. We were immediately drawn to the craftsmanship and artistry present in Alfred’s Tudor Revival home. In the process we discovered that the home had a storied past. From the late 1950s to the early 2000’s the home went into commercial use, serving as a Library, corporate offices for Carmichael Lynch, an architecture firm and even a boarding house.
The previous homeowners had converted the home back to a single family residence, making the transition for us possible. We also felt it was important to step in as the next stewards of this property because it stands as the last remaining single-family home among the collection of mansions the Minneapolis flour barons built in the Whittier neighborhood. While all other homes of this era have been destroyed or converted to commercial use, we saw the necessity to preserve this house as it was intended, as a home.
But we also recognized the importance of sharing this significant home to the greater Minneapolis community, so we explored ways to show our appreciation for history and architecture by opening up the home to the public.
When the opportunity to partner with the Association of Interior Designers (ASID) emerged, we combined our professional talents from the event design and production industries to take on a new adventure – the 2024 ASID Design Home.
This vision and the help of an army of 30 ASID designers 8 NARI contractors has allowed for the unique restoration concept and design-driven reinterpretation of the home. We are thrilled to be able to share our home in July hosting the ASID Design Home Tour and a range of community-centric events, infusing positive energy back into Minneapolis and the Whittier neighborhood.
We hope our journey will encourage others to consider restoration and we look forward to opening up the home for fundraising events to support local charities in the future.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Working on a 120 year old mansion built of limestone and brick is no easy task. The home needed to be brought into the 21st century and that meant major upgrades to the mechanical systems, electrical and plumbing. We also wanted to be sensitive to the history of the home and it’s period details. After Alfred passed away in 1950, the home when through many adaptations and we’ve worked hard to reimagine the house to blend the past with the present. Some of those changes included opening areas of the home that had been separated, back up and blurring the lines between the ‘servant’s’ wing of the home and the main portion of the residence, since the home will be one unit moving forward.
Part of the challenge of owing a significant property is honoring it’s past while transitioning it into its future. We approached this with what we’ve coined a ‘European Sensibility’. We want to celebrate the great elements of the past, but also understand buildings need to evolve and adapt to sustain the future. Our hopes is to have stabilized and supported the needs of the home for the next 120 years.
We’ve completed a restoration on the flame mahogany in the grand salon and music rooms, working with talented artisans that have brought the woodwork back to life. Craftspeople that are capable of working with fine woodwork and details of this period are hard to find and it takes a village to work on a project of this scale. The project involves 8 NARI remodelers and there are dozens of people on site each day working towards the exciting tour this July.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Purchasing the Pillsbury Mansion has become so much more than just buying a home, so we started the Pillsbury Castle Project, a series of initiatives to honor Alfred and Eleanor Pillsbury, their home and the wonderful Whittier Neighborhood. The ASID Design Home is just the beginning. In 2025, the home will be a prominent feature of the MSP Home Tour. Plans also include an annual holiday concept and donating use of the home for non-profit fundraising.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are still working to piece together the history of the home and sharing Alfred and Eleanor’s legacy.
We are looking for the community to share anything with us. We’ve only been able to find a few photos of the home while the Pillsbury’s lived there and we are also looking for photos and stories from when the house was used for business purposes. We want to tie these stories together online at pillsburycastle.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Pillsburycastle.com
- Instagram: pillsburycastle
- Facebook: pillsburycastle
- Youtube: pillsburycastle
