Description    

The building is a red brick two-story structure. The porch was enclosed and a third story was added by raising the roof during Bishop Kelly’s tenure. The building is in the Federal-Italianate style with Winona stone lintels and rounded arches above the tall windows. A picture of the house appears in A. I. Andreas, The Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Minnesota, Chicago: A. T. Andreas, 1874, p. 108

Significance

The mansion was built between 1876 and 1877.  The architect was C. G. Maybury who also designed the Winona County Court House and a number of other important buildings in southern Minnesota.  The mill work in the interior was done by Conrad Bohn & Co.

The Charles Christian Beck mansion was built on a bluff overlooking the mouth of Gilmore Valley.  The report from a recent architectural survey declared the structure architecturally significant.  The land at the bottom of this bluff had been cultivated by generations of Eastern Dakota and was the primary agricultural site of Wabasha's village. During Minnesota's territorial stage, this land was cultivated by the Eastern Dakota people under the direction of James Reed who was appointed Indian farmer to Wabasha's band in 1842 (nine years prior to the opening of Minnesota Territory to settlement).

C. C. Beck was an influential entrepreneur.  He was a brewer, businessman, and local politician. In addition to his farm in Gilmore Valley, Beck built the Gilmore Valley Brewery and a large building in downtown Winona in which he conducted a hardware business.  He served as a director of Merchant's National Bank.  Because he was an influential leader and community developer, Beck constitutes an important connection to Winona’s early history.

C. G. Maybury was a noted architect.  He designed Winona County’s historic court house, St. Stanislaus Church, the Laird-Norton building, the Octagon house of Lafayette Street and many other public buildings, churches and homes in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The most significant resident of this house was Patrick R. Heffron, second bishop of Winona (1910-1927).  Heffron chose this home over the former bishop's residence on the College of Saint Teresa Campus. Upon his return from Rome in 1911, Heffron made the house on Terrace Heights the headquarters of the Diocese of Winona as well as his residence.  This house was the Episcopal Office of the Diocese of Winona from 1911 until 1933. It was here Bishop Heffron founded the institutions, which became a part of the Winona diocese. He expanded the Catholic school system, and instituted the Winona Plan for Parochial Schools, which sought to achieve the standards set by the Minnesota State Department of Education. He instituted the Courier a monthly newspaper. Heffron was the only bishop in the archdiocese who established his own newspaper instead of adopting the Catholic Bulletin as the official organ of his diocese.  In 1910 He used this newspaper to announce the founding of a boys college which became Saint Mary's College/University.

Dr. Mayo performed emergency surgery in this house in 1915, attending to Heffron’s gunshot wounds after a failed assassination attempt.

The Christian Brothers came to Winona in 1911 to operate Cotter High School.  The Brothers initial institutional appearance on Terrace Heights occurred in 1926 when the first of many annual retreats was held at Saint Mary’s College.  This association of the brothers and the diocesan college developed into an agreement for the brothers to purchase the college from the diocese.  In 1933 the institution became a Christian Brother’s college.  Shortly thereafter the Christian Brothers Senior Scholasticate was transferred from Chicago to the college and located in the former bishop’s residence renamed LaSalle Hall.  The Scholasticate remained in this building from 1934 to 1941.  North Central Accreditation of Saint Mary’s College in 1937 as a four year liberal arts college enhanced the status of the Scholasticate and provided the brothers a college education which increased the demand for their teaching services throughout the St. Louis District. From 1941 to 1949 the building was a residence for the Christian Brothers.

Fifty brothers lived and studied in this building when it was a Scholasticate. Many of the outstanding teachers of the college lived in this house, including Br. Charles, Br. H. Raphael, Br. Robert, Br. Leonard, Br. Urban, Br. Michael, and Br. Paul.  Three of these residents became presidents of the college, Brothers Joel Nelson, Gregory Robertson and George Pahl.
For fifteen years 1950-1965 the former mansion was a student dormitory named Cotter Hall.  Among the Hall Counselors (or “night watchmen” as they called themselves) were Brothers Leonard Courtney, Urban Lucken, H. Raphael Erler,Regis Ridgeway, Raymond “Shorty” Long and Joel Nelson.  An exceptional and beloved member of the faculty and a member of the Preservation Committee the late Arthur Flodstrom was one of the student residents of Cotter Hall.
From 1965 to 1972 Cotter Hall was the residence of the Hermanas.  Sisters whose religious vocation was to do the work no one wanted to do.

A group of brothers including Paul Grass and Steven Markham established a community of students and brothers in Cotter Hall in the Fall of 1972.  Brother Paul Ostendorf was the Director of Brother Candidates and Brothers Robert Smith and Pat Conway were Student Candidates.  Brother Paul Grass became a devoted follower of auctions and estate sales to secure period furniture and artifacts for Cotter Hall.  He also became a premier wood restorer.  The faculty Christmas Party/Open House at beautifully furnished and decorated Cotter Hall was the highlight of the social season.  In 1990 the Brothers merged with St. Yon’s Brothers Community.

The Native-American era of the Mdewakantonwan Dakota, the pioneer and dynamic town building years of the city of Winona, and the Diocese of Winona/Christian Brothers presence are three strands of Winona and Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota history that are brought together in this historic house. It was here that Bishop Heffron’s vision was fulfilled.

Winona Weekly Republican 10 January 1877, Mr. Beck’s New House

The large brick dwelling house of Mr. C. C. Beck, at the mouth of Gilmore Valley recently completed, has just been taken formal possession of by that gentleman and his family, who are evidently enjoying its occupancy as it deserves to be enjoyed.  Work on the house in question was begun upwards of two years ago, but various causes--chief of which was the destruction of a large portion of the finishing material for the interior by the fire which consumed Bohn’s factory (Bohn Manufacturing Company, Front & Laird) --conspired to delay its completion until about two months ago.  The delay, however, has by no means proved an unmixed evil, for if the work had been carried on with more expedition, the result might have been far less satisfactory than it is.  The building stands on the beautiful plateau opposite Beck’s Brewery on the east, and from the front and east windows it commands a magnificent view of the upper portion of Winona, together with the valley of the Mississippi and the Wisconsin bluffs as far up as Fountain City.  Its position is not only sightly , but it is in other respects an exceedingly pleasant one, quite worthy of a house so carefully and tastefully fitted up as this one is.  The house is a two-story brick structure, on a dressed stone foundation--the main portion being about 40 by 44 feet in size with a large extension in the rear occupied by  kitchen, laundry, bath room, bed room, servant’s rooms, etc.  The front, which is divided throughout its whole extent by a hall-way 9 feet wide , contains on one side two large parlors and a family bed room, and on the other the family sitting room or library , and a capacious dining room.  The second story contains four large chambers in front, with several smaller rooms in the rear.  Throughout the entire house, the “finish” is of hard wood--walnut, ash, maple, and butternut--and it is polished with as much care and as handsomely as the finest parlor furniture--in this particular being probably unsurpassed by any other dwelling house in the Northwest.  The windows, even to the cellar and attic, are all filled with the best quality of French plate glass.  Contrary to the usual American custom, there is no pantry or china closet in the house--the absence of these necessary adjuncts being, however, well provided against by a large array of covered drawers and shelving across one side of the kitchen, and on the opposite side of the partition in the dining room, a magnificent black-walnut sideboard, manufactured expressly for the room, and supplied with every convenience for the storage of china, glassware, silverware, etc.  In the center there is a large adjustable opening, or pass closet, connecting with the kitchen, and covered when closed with a handsome mirror.  This piece of furniture is probably the largest, most elaborate and handsomely finished of any finished of any of the kind in Minnesota, and it does great credit to Mr. Bohn’s establishment where it was manufactured.  The dining room has a hard-wood floor in variegated colors.  The kitchen, laundry, bath-room, and some of the chambers in the second-story, are provided with hot and cold water--the supply for which is received from a tank in the attic.  In the basement, which contains  vegetable cellar, cistern, wine cellar, and fuel room, there is a large steam heater, which heats the entire house with ease.  Added to all these and numerous other comforts’ and conveniences, the house is handsomely and tastefully carpeted and finished--making it in all respects one of the most desirable houses to be found in Minnesota, and a model for other citizens of means who may build hereafter.
The plan of the house was prepared by Mr. Maybury, architect of this city, and the contract for its construction was taken by Mr. Conrad Bohn, whose well known skill as a builder has been expended on this work in a manner which does him more than ordinary credit.  The mason work was done by Messrs. Butler & Monck, and the plastering by Mr. S. P. Green.  The entire cost of the house was about $17,000.     

Contemporary Comments

“During the season of 1876-77 he [C. C. Beck] built his house on a natural ridge overlooking the city of Winona and commanding a magnificent prospect, extending for miles along the river.  This house is one of the finest in this section of the state.  It is of solid brick and stone, two stories, the main part 40x45, with two additions, one 22x40, the other 20x20.  The workmanship is most superior,  the native wood finish very fine, the cost of the building alone being $15,000.”†

“In  1876-77 he [C. C. Beck] built a beautiful residence of stone and brick at a cost of about $15,000, which was an ideal home in every respect.”±

“He [C. C. Beck] now owns a farm of one hundred and eighty-seven acres adjoining the city, and in addition to this valuable and desirable property has a beautiful residence, one of the finest in the county....”*

“The site is all that can be desired.  There are 120 acres of choicest land with soil most fertile.... There is on the site a palatial residence, modern in construction and in a god state of repair, which with other buildings could not be replaced for less than $21,000. This would place the value of the property at $45,000.”‡

“The bishop, soon after coming to Winona, made it known that he proposed to erect an institution of higher learning for young men.  One of the first steps was the purchase of a picturesque home for many years occupied by C. C. Beck and family and later his widow.  This residence overlooking Winona on what is known as Terrace Heights, became the diocesan headquarters and bishop’s residence.††

“Bishop Heffron was always a school man, and Catholic education was one of his strong points.  None but he would have dared to build St. Mary’s College here when he did.  When his colleagues gathered about him and inquired, ‘Where would the funds come from?’ he replied, ‘They will come all right’ Out there on Terrace Heights today stands that wonderful institution which he founded.  In the years of its existence it has grown bigger and better.” (Archbishop Austin Dowling)††

“One eye witness of this period (1926), Brother Charles Severin, said that the residence was no rich man’s place but was clean and orderly. The formal parlor, now the chapel and small dining room, was suitable for state occasions and looked like many a rectory in former days with religious pictures and heavy furniture.”**

† History of Winona County (Chicago: H. H. Hill and Company, 1883) 724.

± Franklyn Curtis-Wedge, The History of Winona County Minnesota (Chicago: H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Co., 1913) Vol II, 674.

*Portrait and Biographical Record of Winona County (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1895) 213.

‡ The Winona Courier, January, 1911, 13-14.

†† The Nexus, 15 December 1927.

** Paul Ostendorf, FSC, “Cotter Hall 1876-1974,” Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Archives.

Excerpt from “A Proposal to Renovate and Preserve the C. C. Beck House/ Cotter Hall March 9, 2006”

The most distinctive and the most historically significant building on the Saint Mary’s University campus is the former C. C. Beck House.  This  Victorian Era mansion was the “powerhouse” from which emanated the vision, ideas, and actions which contributed to the dynamic growth of the Winona community, the founding of the college, and its maturation under the leadership of the Christian Brothers to begin a new era in a new century as Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.  The C. C. Beck House is a symbol of the threads which make up the fabric of the University’s history.  Beck’s entrepreneurial skills played a part in the rapid expansion of Winona as a river town which served as the gateway to southwestern Minnesota and the Dakotas.  During the Heffron Era this house was the base of operations from which the bishop turned his vision of a boy’s school and college into reality.  In the early thirties this house became the Christian Brother’s Senior Scholasticate for the St. Louis District, a repository of the LaSallian ideals which shaped the struggling college and prepared the way for its transformation into a university.  The Christian Brother’s Scholasticate brought together the teaching brothers  and the student brothers who became the critical mass of educational energy which transformed Saint Mary’s College after World War II.