By 1920, Fillebrown had winterized and remodeled the cottage so he and his family could enjoy it during all four seasons of the year. Helen and her brother willed their home to the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society, which has preserved this architectural treasure and opens it to the public on summer Sundays. During the 1920s and 1930s, gangsters like Ma Barker and Babyface Nelson, along with high-society mavens, visited the lake area. Located about 10 miles north of St. Paul, the White Bear Lake area is easily accessible. Its close proximity to the Twin Cities allows businesses, tourists, and residents to take advantage of an international airport, six reliever airports, three major rail lines, and 16 smaller freight lines, as well as four major ports.
Products move in an out of the city via water, rail, truck, and air on a daily basis.
Lake Area Bus transports folks between stops in Mahtomedi, Birchwood, White Bear Township, Vadnais Heights, and the City of White Bear Lake. The bus line hooks up, during morning and evening commuter hours, with Metro Transit buses at Maplewood Mall. The Lionmobile and the Metro Mobility program transport seniors and handicapped citizens around the area and into the Twin Cities. The area is also serviced by The Soo Line and Burlington Northern Railroads, which carry passengers and freight and connect to cities across the country. A twenty minute drive gets travelers to the Minneapolis-St.