Being the tallest kid in class doesn’t often come with bragging rights — but living in the tallest home in a state capital certainly does.
In Saint Paul, the capital of Minnesota, a 19th-century home perched on a 1.55-acre bluff lot has the distinction of being the city’s tallest single-family residence — and it’s now for sale, its listing brokerage told The Post. Asking $1.85 million, the four-story spread takes advantage of its signature stature with a top-floor observatory that looks to views of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis skylines, as well as the Mississippi River Valley. Typically, homes in the area stand three stories high.
Built in 1886, the 9,400-square-foot property at 4 Crocus Hill fits seven bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two powder rooms inside — not to mention a dose of history. Designed by prominent Minneapolis architect William Channing Whitney, the home was built for the politician Edmund Rice — though its fourth floor came much later, in the 1970s. The original building cost: $15,000, or some $461,000 in today’s figures.
Edmund Rice first resided in this Saint Paul spread. Minnesota Historical Society
Standing four stories high, this is also the tallest home in Saint Paul. Courtesy of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio International
Original details include a working organ. Courtesy of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio InternationalRice, who died three years after the home’s construction at age 70, was a Democratic politician who served two terms as Saint Paul’s mayor, from 1881 to 1883 and from 1885 to 1887. In 1887, he resigned to represent his Minnesota district in Congress. Originally from Vermont, Rice was an attorney and the president of the Minnesota and Pacific railroads.
Subsequent residents included a man named George R. Finch, who helped secure the location of the State Capitol in Saint Paul, and William Rush Merriam, a Republican who served as Minnesota’s eighth governor — who spent five years living in this home.
The home comes replete with wooden details, and even woodburning fireplaces with wooden mantels. Courtesy of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio International
Oversize windows let in lots of natural light. Courtesy of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio International
The home dates to 1886. Courtesy of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio International
There are 9,400 square feet of living space. Courtesy of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio International
Standing apart from the old world, the chef’s kitchen meets today’s standards with industry-grade appliances. Courtesy of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio InternationalDespite the century-plus age of the residence, as well as the owners who have come and gone, original details remain to this day.
They include a working pipe organ, which stands in a room with wooden ceiling moldings and surrounded by oversize leaded windows on three sides. Listing images additionally show other old-world touches, such as a wooden staircase, fireplaces with wooden mantels and handsome hardwood flooring.
Meanwhile, for modern sensibilities, the gourmet kitchen has commercial-grade appliances — including multiple dishwashers — and the attached three-car garage is heated. The master suite also comes with dressing rooms, sunrooms and a study.
Mary Hardy, of Edina Realty/Luxury Portfolio International, has the listing.
