More About This Project

Background: Recognized as one of the great Prairie School houses, this building is part of the permanent collection of the MIA. William Gray Purcell’s home, completed in 1913, is one of the high points of Purcell and Elmslie’s domestic designs. In 1919, Anson Cutts purchased the house when Purcell and his family moved to Chicago. No significant alterations were made to the house during his sixty-six year residency in the home. Anson Cutts’ son bequeathed the structure to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 1985.

The William Gray Purcell House is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Projects: MacDonald & Mack has performed a variety of services for this house, including a Historic Structure Report (which involved a meticulous condition assessment) followed by a top-to-bottom restoration of this historic masterpiece, down to the stenciling, furnishings, and textiles.