You may think you know your Twin Towns, but have you ever heard of Cottage City? The Sunnyside Addition? How about Homewood? Well, for the price of two fancy coffees, you can actually tour these nooks and crannies of Minneapolis with the architectural historians and enthusiasts of Preserve Minneapolis.
On Tuesday, July 26, at 6 p.m., architect and historic preservationist Chuck Liddy of Miller Dunwiddie Architecture and Peter Sussman of Preserve Minneapolis will squire participants around the area of Lake Calhoun once home to modest lake cottages. During the Cottage City tour, discussions will center on the character of this community during the late 1800s, how park development in the area changed that character and the impact of oversize buildings in the area.
Restored Queen Annes are the focus of the Old Highland Walking Tour on Sunday, July 24, at 1 p.m., in North Minneapolis. The “Victorian-era enclave” encompasses 30 blocks (the tour, however, is only about 1 mile) and was created at the turn of the last century “when architects designed residences for upper-class merchants operating businesses along its main thoroughfares,” according to the website.
The series also includes the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line Walking Tour on Sunday, July 31, and in August heads downriver for a tour of Fort Snelling’s Upper Post, which may be soon redeveloped into workforce housing. Oh… and the Sunnyside Addition? It’s part of the Wedge, and was designed to be a streetcar suburb of large houses for the middle class.
The Sunnyside Addition tour, on Thursday, August 18, at 6:30 p.m., will include talk about houses demolished over the decades, the “Let It Be” house made famous by a Replacements album cover, and current conflicts between real estate developers and residents over the future of specific buildings. The tour is so popular, it sold out last time. Get your tickets now for the second one.
By Camille LeFevre
