May 18, 2008 10:52 pm US/Central
Finding Minnesota: A Mansion Built By Dreams
HASTINGS, Minn. (WCCO) ―
Tens of thousands of folks pass by a stone mansion along Highway 61 in Hastings every day, yet very few know its true story.
Just a few blocks south of downtown you'll see the cream-colored limestone house sitting among the towering trees.
The William and Mary LeDuc Estate has been a fixture in this pioneer town since the end of the Civil War.
Gothic revival in its architecture, it has a graceful presence, trimmed with purple gingerbread that was built to be opulent. So you would think that its original owners, William and Mary LeDuc, must have possessed tremendous wealth. After all it cost $30,000 to build back in the 1860s.
But in fact, the LeDucs were barely holding on.
"They never really could afford it. (It) was always a little beyond their means," said Chad Roberts with the Dakota County Historical Society, which now manages the mansion.
According to Roberts, William LeDuc came to Minnesota in 1850. He was educated as a lawyer but dreamed of striking it rich as an entrepreneur. He tried everything from building a railroad to mining ventures and sawmills. Yet most of his income would come from the several farms he owned.
In 1862, his talents made him a quartermaster in the Union Army. He was adept at arranging supplies for Union troops.
Inside the mansion's parlor is a large painting of LeDuc in uniform atop a horse is set against Lookout Mountain in Tennessee. He eventually left the army as a Brigadier General in 1865 and returned to Hastings, where his mansion was being completed.
Heidi Langenfeld, the mansion's curator, guided us from room to room. The 140-year-old home has been carefully restored and decorated to appear much as it was when the LuDucs moved in right after the Civil War.
"They spent a lot of time in here," said Langenfeld while entering the library. "From what we know, it was probably one of their favorite rooms in the house."
So much fine detail was built into the home -- such as floor-to-ceiling windows, porches, and disappearing blinds -- that it took three years to build, and at five times the expected cost. Langenfeld said much of the mansion's history comes from boxes of letters which were later discovered.
"In 1863, Mary wrote a letter to her husband, Mr. LeDuc, and said 'Remember to tell Mr. Cogswell (the cabinetmaker) that the blinds are to have movable slats.' And you see they do, and fold back against themselves and tuck back behind the window moldings," said Langenfeld.
Even the ice house was designed for maximum efficiency -- it could keep ice frozen in the ground for up to a year. Roberts walked us around the ice house, pointing to the gap between the sides and shingled roof.
"This was left for a reason, there's space up here for a reason. And there's a cupola up top, same reason. All the heat will go up and out," he noted.
In the end, LeDuc never saw the wealth he wanted and it took an unexpected inheritance to pay off the mortgage. But what he left behind is now a stone palace symbolizing great prominence, built of dreams and debt.
The mansion will be open for public tours, Wednesdays through Sundays in late May.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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