The Edna S. Purcell house was designed by William Gray Purcell & George Grant Elmslie for Purcell and his family in 1913. The house is considered on of the finest examples of work done by the local architecture firm of Purcell and Elmslie. The structure’s horizontal plane, flat roof, use of natural materials and colors reflect the Prairie School design ethic. The long, narrow floor plan of the house disregards Victorian concepts about room divisions and shows the influence of Louis Henri Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. The landscaping was designed by landscape architect Harry Franklin Baker. The house, considered to be William Gray Purcell’s finest, has been extensively restored, and is now owned by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Tours are available on the second weekend of every month. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
