Stories, Stonework & Stewardship Mansion Project

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Stories, Stonework & Stewardship

A Campaign to Restore the Historic Turnblad Mansion and Carriage House

Over nearly a century, through passionate stewardship and creativity, the Turnblad Mansion has become one of America’s premier historic houses and the heartbeat of a wide community. But our beloved Mansion is showing its age, and the deteriorating impact of time and weather have left their marks.

We have launched a $22 million campaign to rehabilitate the interiors and exteriors of the Mansion and Carriage House, and to reimagine the Mansion’s interior spaces for programs, gatherings and world-class exhibitions.

The project will restore and revive the Turnblad Mansion so that this historic home is preserved for future generations and can best serve our 21st-century visitors by sharing and prompting stories of how, through migration, people bring ideas that transform themselves and their communities. The project will also rehabilitate the Carriage House into an accessible, functional, and tasteful space for staff and volunteers that encourages creativity and collaboration.

Editing/Cinematography: Francis Sampah, Egobee

View Project Summary

Learn more about the impact of this project and the work ahead in this detailed summary. Receive occasional project updates over the coming months.

“ASI is my touchstone place.

As I raised a family, I frequently visited with my family and we shared the magic together. It is imperative that places like ASI are cared for so that many other generations may also enjoy these moments of wonder and awe.

Michael Bjornberg

Preservation Architect and ASI Trustee

This campaign showcases the Turnblad Mansion’s irreplaceable value.

The entire region can take pride in its majesty and would experience a profound loss if this treasure weren’t preserved for future generations.

Mary Dee Hicks

ASI Trustee

Just as we appreciate the immigrant experience for current immigrants, we appreciate it for past and future immigrants. We find solidarity in the understanding of leaving one place and finding home in a new place, whether it is Swedish or Hmong or Somali.

Kristen Stuenkel

ASI Member

There are many wonders in the Turnblad Castle, from the hand-carved, two-story mantel in the Grand Hall to the brilliantly colored Visby painted glass window, to the 11 imported kakelugnar (ceramic stoves) throughout the house.

Larry Millett

Minnesota's Own: Preserving Our Grand Homes

ASI builds an inclusive community in the Phillips neighborhood and in the Twin Cities. As we become more diverse in the coming decades, institutions like ASI can play a critical role in advancing more peaceful and prosperous communities.

Hamse Warfa

Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development at the Minnesota DEED

I had this idea in mind when I first began to build the home. I wanted it to endure for a hundred thousand years. And I wanted to have it so arranged that it might be converted to later uses.

Swan J. Turnblad

Publisher, Svenska Amerikanska Posten