St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-16
THE W. F. STOREY MANSION
NEW HOUSES BUILT FROM MATERIAL
IN THE RESIDENCE.
VERMONT MARBLE AND BRICK

Taken From the Great Unused
Pile on Grand Boulevard Pro-
viding Quarters for Many Fam
ilies-Correct Solution of the
Problem What to Do With the
Building Material.
Down at Forty-third street and Vim
| cennes avenue, in little grove OF
stunted oak trees, lies pile of white
marble and brick which spreads over
the space of an acre, says the Chicago
Tribune. All day long men Chamber
over the pile, dislodging piece here
and there, which they drag to other
smaller piles in front of excavations on
| Vernon and Fincennes avenues. A row
| of new white-fropt houses on Vernon
| avenue. and two others on Vincennes
tell where some of the marble has gone.
| There are eight or nine houses alto
| gether. They are larger than the av-
erage. Although nearly all of the ma
| terial in these structures has come
| from the big pile which the houses
| overlook, that has not shrunk much.
| Neither will 1t have diminished quite
| one-half from its original proportions
when the building operations now con-
| templated into which its omponents
enter shall be finished. There will be
stuff enough left to build thirty more
houses when the twenty now planned
are completed.
This big pile of sculptured marble
! and brick is the ruins of the mansion
started by Wilbur F. Storey. Back in
the early SOS it was the show house on
Grand boulevard. The editor of the
Times owned four and half acres run
ming along Forty-third street from the
Grand boulevard back TO Vincennes
avenue. His great mansion stood at the
northeastern corner of the plat on
slightly rising ground. 1t was an I'M
posing mansion, four or five stories
high, built of Vermont marble that
shone in the sunlight. There was no
house in Chicago SO pretentiouS, al
though nowadays there are numbers on
the swell of the three divisions of the
city which may be compared to the
Storey Castle" us it was called. The
mansion was never completed. A tenn
porary roof was put on, and work was
suspended several years before Mr..
| Storey'S death.
DECIDED TO RAE THE MANSION.
After that event the properly was di-
vided among four heirs. All the efforts
that sharp real estate men knew how to
make were directed toward the sale of
the great house. Nobody could be
| found, however, who wanted It, and
| finally it was decided that the mansion
must be raZed. What was to be done
| with the marble, brick. and iron that
composed it? The iron girders and
hnot ,ifrhf hn .,Nll ht,f m 10 No
| brick and stone for hauling was likely
| to be veXatiouS and Improbable job.
| Why not build houses with it? was the
| suggestion made to the owners. The
| latter grabbed at the idea. They con-
| suited architects, who made measure
| ments, drawings, and plans, and
accompanied them with a report
| that promised such a satisfactory result
the owners were convinced the idea
was feasible and profitable. The money
was found, working plans were got
ready, and operations were begun. That
was months ago. Since then people
who live in a radius of three miles from
the place have walked over and watched
new houses 90 up on the plat, while The
pile of material of which they are built
has hardly lessened. They have Won
dered how many houses can be built be-
fore the pile Will vanish. H. w. Chris
tian. of George NJ. Bogue q Co., who
handle the property, says fifty houses
can be built before that happens.
Vernon avenue was cut through the
original plat, thus dividing it into two
| parts. On the west side of Vernon ave-
hue a row of seven houses has been
erected. They are nearly finished. On
VincenneS avenue are two more, not so
far along. They are all built on practi-
calIy the same plan of interior arrange
| ment, They are twenty-five feet wide,
two stories high, and contain ten rooms
each, all finished in hardwood and
| handsomely fitted. The fronts of the
| houses differ. Some have swell fronts.
| Others have square windows, and others
| have four small windows in row on
| the upper story. There are window
castings of rounded marble, pediments,
and ornaments such as are generally
seen on houses of the highest class. All
of these ornaments We're carved years
ago. The plans of the new houses were
so drawn as to use the ornamental
carved marble of the Storey house Just
| as it appeared i'll that edifice.
To casual observers the great heap
| which marks the site of the Storey house
is in confusion. But it isn't. All of the
stones have been classified and set apart
| carefully, though the division lines are
so narrow that all appear as part of a
| mass. When window ledge of cop
ing or supporting pillar is wanted the
workmen know just where to go to find
it: No time is lost. AT the side Of the
heap of stone Is a broad, solid pile of
brick. This is used to build the walls of
the new houses. There were 100000
brick in the pile at first.
TALKS ABOUT THE HOUSES.
"Mr. Storey's house cost him between
| 100000 and $3.50, 000," said Mr.. Chris
tian. $50 the heirs claim, at least. We
| sold 400 tons of iron beams and girders.
| The other material taken out is worth
| at least $4,000. 1t would have cost us
twice as much had we Bought it at first
hands and hauled it there Vermont
marble is pretty expensive stone. The
| plans accepted provide for twenty
| houses on the streets running north and
south. Nothing but the material for
| the inner fittings will be purchased. and
houses left. There will also be a four
story fiat building with stores be-
meath on Forty-Tbird street. There
will be at least one fiat. Whether more
will be erected will depend upon the
| success of the first. The results of the
sales of the first houses will determine
| the question as to the erection of the
fifth, The prospect of their early sale
| is good. ESTIMATING five persons as
constituting the average family the
| fifty houses, when finished. will thus
afford homes for $50 souls, without
| counting the number that may be domi-
| ciled in the flats. The Storey house.
big as it was, could not have furnished
! quarters for half the number. The
| value of the entire improvement, when
| ell Ioto mil 10