West Side: Prospect Terrace

No site offers better views of downtown Saint Paul than the bluffs of Prospect Terrace, once the West Side’s answer to Summit Avenue.

Scanning from east to west you can see Dayton's Bluff and Indian Mounds Park; Metro State University; the lowlands (now Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary) where Trout Brook and Phalen Creek once flowed into the Mississippi; downtown Saint Paul, with the Capitol and Cathedral rising above; and downtown Minneapolis far in the distance.



The neighborhood bounded roughly by Prospect Boulevard, Isabel, Ohio, and George Streets comprises a museum of turn-of-the-century Midwestern residential architecture: Queen Annes, French Second Empires, Italianates, solid four-squares, bungalows, painted ladies, rowhouses, and tiny worker houses.

West Side: An Introduction

The West Side of St. Paul originally got it's name not from the fact that it sits west of St. Paul, but because at this point of the river, the Mississippi bends from its north-south bearing, to an east-west, placing the West Side on the left or…

The Durkee House

Across the street from one another in Prospect Terrace are two prominent French Second Empire homes. The first, the Durkee House is located at 58 Prospect Boulevard. Built round 1875, this is one of the first built on the bluff – a French Second…

The James Melady House

Across from the Durkee House is another French Second Empire at 361 Stryker. The James Melady House is believed to have been built around 1885. The term Second Empire refers to the reign (1852-1870) of Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew Louis-Napoleon, and…

John and Mary Minea House

There are two Brueggeman residences in Prospect Terrace within a block and a half from one another. The first is located at 382 Winslow. Martin Brueggeman made a fortune in brewing and spent a lot of it on the bluff. He built this house, with its…

Edward and Elizabeth Heimbach House

Located one block south and one block east from the Minea House is the Edward and Elizabeth Heimbach House at 64 West Delos. Martin Brueggemann (see John and Mary Minea House) also built this one for his daughter Elizabeth upon her marriage to Mr.…

Grady Flats

Located a short distance further east from the Heimbach House are the Grady Flats - a beautiful rowhouse with parapets, turrets, and finials at the roofline.

Eugene and Christina Villaume House

If you make your way one block south and two blocks west of the Grady Flats, you will be at the Eugene and Christina Villaume House on 123 West Isabel. Eugene Villaume, born in St. Michel, France, in 1853, came to St. Paul in 1873, following his…