A Grand Old House With a Story to Tell
Some hotels are just places to sleep. 300 Clifton is a place to time-travel. Behind our carved front doors sits one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in Minnesota — the Eugene J. Carpenter House, a downtown Minneapolis landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977. When you book a room here, you’re not just choosing a bed and breakfast in Loring Park. You’re stepping into more than a century of Minneapolis history.
The best part? Unlike most historic mansions, ours isn’t behind a velvet rope. You get to live in it — sleep by a carved fireplace, sip coffee under hand-painted murals, and soak in the garden hot tub under the same sky the Carpenters once did.
From Coal Baron to Arts Patron: How the Mansion Came to Be
The house began its life in 1887 as a Queen Anne home, complete with a turret and wraparound porches. But its most dramatic chapter started in 1905, when Eugene and Merrette Carpenter bought the property. The Carpenters came from lumber-milling families and had both the means and the taste to reimagine the place entirely.
In 1906 they hired Edwin H. Hewitt — one of the era’s most celebrated Minneapolis architects, of the firm Hewitt & Brown — to transform the home into the elegant Georgian Revival mansion you see today. Over roughly ten months, the roof came off, walls were rebuilt, and the exterior was refinished into the symmetrical, dignified brick facade that still anchors Clifton Avenue. Eugene Carpenter was more than a businessman; he was a passionate patron of the arts who played a pivotal role in founding the Minneapolis Institute of Art. That love of beauty is written into every room.
Rooms That Wear Their History Well
Every guest room at 300 Clifton has its own personality and its own name — the Crystal Mansion, the Georgian, the Grand Edwardian, the Coachman’s, the Blacksmith’s Forge, the Hayloft, and our Estate rooms. Some feature carved fireplaces and original woodwork; others reveal the hand-painted murals the Carpenters commissioned. You can browse them all and pick your favorite on our rooms page, or dive deeper into the property’s past on our mansion history page.
And then there’s Gertrude’s Cistern — our speakeasy and haunted video lounge tucked into the old stone cistern below the house, complete with heated reclining seats and a hint of playful mystery. If you’re curious what that’s all about, we spilled the secrets in this post on Gertrude’s Cistern.
A Historic Address in the Heart of the City
Living in a piece of history doesn’t mean giving up the city. 300 Clifton sits on the edge of Loring Park, 34 leafy acres with a pond, walking paths, the whimsical Berger Fountain, and the Garden of the Seasons. Cross the pedestrian bridge and you’re at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden — free and open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight — where the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry waits among 60-plus sculptures.
Summer only sweetens the deal. The neighborhood hums with festivals and free concerts all season, and you can plan the rest of your visit with Meet Minneapolis’s Loring Park guide. For more ideas right outside our door, we rounded them up in our summer weekend in Loring Park guide.
Make a Weekend of Minneapolis’s Grand Old Homes
If the Carpenter Mansion lights up your love of history, you’re in good company across the city. Hop aboard Minneapolis Trolley Tours for a vintage-trolley spin through the city’s stories — including ghost and true-crime routes that lean into Minneapolis’s more mysterious side. Or visit our sister property, the Pillsbury Club, the famously haunted Charles S. Pillsbury Mansion, where a speakeasy-style bar, a private theater, and year-round tours keep the Gilded Age gloriously alive.
Staying longer, or in town for work? Our downtown extended-stay option, Oakland’s on 9th, offers furnished, month-to-month studios just a few blocks away — handy when a weekend turns into a season.
Come Stay Inside the Story
There aren’t many places where you can sleep inside a National Register landmark, warm up in a garden hot tub under the stars, and wander into a speakeasy without ever leaving the grounds. 300 Clifton is one of them. Whether you’re marking an anniversary, planning a downtown date weekend, or simply craving a stay with soul, we’d love to welcome you home to the mansion.
Book your stay at 300 Clifton and step into a little piece of Minneapolis history — carved fireplaces, murals, gardens, and all.
Keep reading: Eugene Carpenter helped found the Minneapolis Institute of Art — plan an art lover’s weekend in Minneapolis from his mansion.