East Isles, Minneapolis
Encyclopedia
East Isles is a neighborhood within the larger Calhoun-Isles community in Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Minnesota, United States. It lies between Hennepin Avenue
Hennepin Avenue
Hennepin Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs from Lakewood Cemetery , north through the Uptown District of Southwest Minneapolis, through the former "Bottleneck" area west of Loring Park, through the North Loop in the city center, to Northeast Minneapolis and...
to the east, Lake of the Isles
Lake of the Isles
Lake of the Isles is a lake in Minneapolis, Minnesota connected to Cedar Lake and Lake Calhoun. It is home to winter ice skating and hockey, as well as a New Year's Eve celebration featuring roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate...
to the west, West Lake Street
Lake Street (Minneapolis)
Lake Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Minneapolis, Minnesota which is located between 29th and 31st Streets in south Minneapolis. It was named such because it runs through the Chain of Lakes area on the west side of town and passes over a small channel linking Lake Calhoun and Lake of...
to the south, and West 22nd Street to the north. Together with parts of Lowry Hill East and other nearby neighborhoods, East Isles is part of the larger, but unofficial, Uptown neighborhood
Uptown, Minneapolis
Uptown is a popular commercial district in southwestern Minneapolis, Minnesota, centered at the Uptown Theater at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and Lagoon Avenue. It has traditionally spanned the corners of four neighborhoods, Lowry Hill East, ECCO, CARAG and East Isles neighborhoods, within...
.
Architects William Gray Purcell
William Gray Purcell
William Gray Purcell was a Prairie School architect in the Midwestern United States. He partnered with George Grant Elmslie. The firm of Purcell and Elmslie produced designs for buildings in twenty two states, Australia, and China...
and George Grant Elmslie
George Grant Elmslie
George Grant Elmslie was an American, though born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Prairie School architect whose work is mostly found in the Midwestern United States...
designed the Catherine Gray House in this neighborhood, at 2409 Lake of the Isles Boulevard; it is currently owned by Brian and Mary Longe. Purcell built the Catherine Gray House (his first project) for his grandmother, who funded the project to help Purcell and Elmslie launch their new firm. Purcell lived in the house with his grandmother until he married his wife Edna. After many years of alterations and lots of white paint, the house had lost most of its Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
characteristics. After an extensive historical restoration to the exterior in 2005-2006 by the Longes, the exterior of the home has been returned to its original beauty and is a fine example of early Prairie School in Minneapolis.
Behind the Catherine Gray House, on Lake Place, is another significant project by Purcell & Elmslie
Purcell & Elmslie
The American progressive architectural practice most widely known as Purcell & Elmslie was the second most commissioned firm of the Prairie School after Frank Lloyd Wright...
- the Purcell-Cutts House
William Gray Purcell House
The Edna S. Purcell house was designed by William Gray Purcell & George Grant Elmslie for Purcell and his family in 1913. The dwelling is considered a masterpiece of Prairie School architecture. The long, narrow floor plan of the house disregards Victorian concepts about room divisions. The...
. The Purcell-Cutts House was originally called the Edna Purcell House, named for his wife. Purcell and his wife lived in this home and raised their two sons there. The Cutts family bought the house years later and lived there for many years, and then donated the home to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...
. The home is now a museum and is open to the public for tours. Signs denoting the neighborhood incorporate that window designs of this house.