THE WESTLING HOUSE
From the Re-Echo, March 2008

“Westling’s Place,” 8550 Minnetonka Blvd., is on the market. (Parts of) the house go back to 1874, making it the oldest house in St. Louis Park. The new owners plan to subdivide the 3 acre property into four lots, called Isabelle Estates. They have several scenarios that they are discussing with the City; only one calls for the house to be saved. City Councilperson Sue Sanger has shown an interest in saving the house, perhaps even for use by the St. Louis Park Historical Society. The developer gave a tour of the house to members of the Historical Society, and we took many pictures. We predict that there will be many conversations about the disposition of the property in the future.
 

Some communities have Housing Preservation Commissions to address these kinds of situations. The St. Louis Park Historical Society suggests that one be established in the Park. This City entity would address issues regarding our oldest homes, and perhaps recommend a housing preservation code that would prevent the demolition or substantial rehabilitation of our many 100+ year old houses. Housing Preservation Commissions are eligible for many grants and services available from the State Historic Preservation Office.

Here are some facts and stories about the Westling House; many came from Mrs. Marlys Westling herself:

1874: The original portion of the house was built. Verification of this date is unclear, although it may be in the abstract.

1884: The house was added onto, as evidenced by "1884" etched in the cement, and a copy of an 1884 newspaper found in the wall during a subsequent renovation. News of the day was a visit to Minnesota by General Grant.

The 1889 map shows the property belonging to Mary M. Bruce. During prohibition the place was a speakeasy, decorated with umbrellas, and featuring a magic cistern - pull on a rope to retrieve the hooch.

1933: Belmont Tavern and Belmont Stables were both listed in the Village's first directory.

1935: Only Belmont Tavern was listed in the directory. A.J. Rowan requested a license to sell beer, although a Mr. Vader Van Slyke was listed as the owner of the Tavern.

1942: The property and acres of land were purchased by Richard J. and Marlys Westling. As early as 1939, the Westlings had raised produce and chickens on land they rented at 31st and Louisiana. The Westlings also farmed at their new location, and raised chickens and pigs.

1947: The Westlings subdivided the property (West Lynn) and built 65 homes. Mrs. Westling designed the houses.

The Westlings also named the streets in the subdivision, which the Village said had to be named after American battles. Thus, they named:

Aquila: Mrs. Westling originally wanted to name it Aragon, but it was deemed too close to Oregon. Then she found a book called Action at Aquila, which described a Civil War battle where 8 men were killed. The 1938 novel was written by Hervey Allen (who also wrote Anthony Adverse in 1933, which Warner Bros. made into a major motion picture in 1936, starring Fredric March, Olivia de Havilland, Claude Rains, and Gale Sondergard, and directed by Mervyn LeRoy).

Boone: This street was named in honor of Mrs. Westling's shirt-tail relative, Daniel Boone; she had to show the Village evidence of a battle named Boone to get it approved.







 

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.