Perhaps second only to Glensheen Mansion in fame among Duluth homes is the Arthur and Ella Cook House at 501 W. Skyline Parkway. For those who have looked at the property and wondered what the view of the city is like from that bluestone stairway, the postcard above offers an illustrated perspective from roughly the 1930s.
Arthur Purdon Cook was a pharmacist, prominent horse-master and superintendent of St. Louis County’s Poor Commission (later renamed the St. Louis County Welfare Board). He hired architect I. Vernon Hill to design his castle-like home on Duluth’s hillside, which took two years to build and was completed in 1902.
Bob and Kit Kunze are the current owners of the Cook House, shown below in another early 20th Century postcard.
Why “Minnehaha Falls” appears at the end of the text on the card below is anyone’s guess.
