As night begins to set in behind a lawn of lush greenery; a house with a flat and square architecture is engulfed with lights that almost resemble a sunset by way of heavily detailed glass windows.

Doors Open Minneapolis: Purcell-Cutts House

In 1913, architects William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie designed a house that remains one of the most significant examples of the Prairie School style of architecture in the country. Built for Purcell’s own family and named for Purcell’s wife Edna, the house, near Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, incorporated Purcell’s talent for innovative residential planning with Elmslie’s ingenious and exacting decorative detail.

New and timely house interpretation introduced in 2022 includes the context of race and access to housing in Minneapolis, hygiene and design, and women in architecture and design in the early 20th century. For Doors Open Minneapolis, stationed guides will answer questions and provide brief overviews of the house from 10-5 both days. Admission for this event is free.

Find out more about Doors Open Minneapolis on their website.