Donald and Bertha Culver House 361 Summit Avenue

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Originally on the site where 361 Summit stands today, was a large wood-frame house built by Charles and Lilly Bunker. It was designed by George Wirth and cost around $6,000 to build. The home was bought by Donald and Bertha Culver in 1907, and they lived there until 1912 when the house was picked up and moved to 506 Summit Avenue. It was then remodeled into a more of a Neo-Classic design. After the house was moved away, the Culvers had a new house built for them on the site.

The present house at 361 Summit was built for the Culvers in 1912. Constructed for a cost of $12,000, the home is Tudor in style. It was designed by Peter J. Linhoff, an architect born in Minnesota, who worked in Saint Paul nearly his entire career, designing many homes in the Crocus Hill neighborhood. Linhoff worked solely alone, with the exception of a short term partnership with Louis Lockwood in 1908.

Donald Stewart Culver was born on November 29th, 1867 in Sandwhich, Illinois, and worked as the vice president of the National German American Bank in Saint Paul. He married Bertha E. Constans on April 30th, 1907. Bertha was born in 1874 in Saint Paul, and was daughter of local merchant, William Constans, who built his mansion at 465 Summit Avenue. She married Alanson Wilder Merriam on October 2nd, 1895, and on May 23rd, 1905, Alanson died in St. Luke’s Hospital in Saint Paul after a surgery for appendicitis. Bertha never had kids, even with her second husband Donald.

Records indicate the Culver’s were living in the house up into the 1950’s. Bertha Culver died on January 31st, 1960, in Saint Paul, and her husband Donald Culver followed on May 18th, 1961. Today the house is still used as a private residence.