About Oliver G. Traphagen House
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
The Oliver G. Traphagen House is a house in Duluth, Minnesota. The architect, Oliver G. Traphagen, designed a number of buildings in Duluth, as well as in Hawaii. The house is a three-story Victorian mansion. The front wall is built of local red sandstone and features ornate carving and window dressing, along with towers and unusual dormers. The three other faces of the building are faced in red brick. It was originally designed as a duplex house with two separate entrances and very similar floor plans on either side, with the exception of the front windows. The west side has curved windows, while the east side has straight windows with wood wainscoting underneath. There are ten fireplaces in the house, all but one of which retain their original tile. The house also has antique light fixtures in most of the rooms. These fixtures operated on either gas or electricity, because at the time, interior electric wiring was still new and not yet proven.
