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Johnston, Clarence H. (1859–1936)

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Black and white photograph of Clarence Johnston, ca. 1919.

Clarence Johnston, ca. 1919.

The prolific architect Clarence H. Johnston left a built legacy unmatched in Minnesota. He designed scores of mansions and stately houses, mostly in St. Paul, as well as dozens of academic buildings, churches, schools, sports palaces, prisons, hospitals, and asylums.

Though he died in 1936, Johnston remains the most abundantly and persistently present of all Minnesota architects. He is best known for his houses, but his career had another dimension. In his long tenure as state architect and in commissions for institutional clients, he designed for multitudes. Johnston’s works have touched the full spectrum of Minnesotans and continue to do so in the twenty-first century.

Johnston was born in Elysian, Waseca County, in 1859. His parents, Alexander and Louise Buckhout Johnston, were originally from New York state. At age fifteen Johnston went to work for St. Paul architect Abraham Radcliffe. He studied architecture at MIT—the only formal training he ever received—but left after one term due to a lack of money. He then worked briefly for architects in St. Paul and New York, where he lived with Cass Gilbert. In 1882 he settled into his own practice in St. Paul.

Even at the start of his career Johnston knew how to think big. His first commission, at age twenty-four, was for future governor William Merriam’s mansion overlooking downtown St. Paul. He designed Glensheen—thirty-nine rooms and fifteen baths on seven acres overlooking Lake Superior. The house, finished in 1908, became one of Duluth’s main tourist attractions.

Stonebridge (built in 1914, razed in 1953) stood near the Mississippi a mile south of the foot of Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Smaller than Glensheen, with nineteen rooms, it had classical touches— six enormous columns at the main entrance—and conspicuous modernities, such as a heated garage with maintenance pits. The landscaped, forty-acre campus made it the biggest estate in St. Paul.

None of Johnston’s other houses approached these in scope. But he designed many, mostly in St. Paul’s wealthy neighborhoods and along Summit Avenue. There was no such thing, however, as a Clarence Johnston style; he composed in great variety.

From 1901 to 1931 Johnston served as Minnesota State Architect while continuing his private practice. In this role Johnston designed public buildings for many people: employees, residents, guests, and managers—rather than private homes intended to please single clients.

Johnston’s institutional creations supported diverse arenas of public life, including sports (the St. Paul Curling Club, 1913); health care (the Ah-Gwah-Ching Center, 1907); politics (the State Office Building, 1932); and farming (the State Fair Cattle Pavilion, 1920). The Crispus Attucks Home (1883) is a Johnston design, as is the Salvation Army Home for Girls (1913) and the Jewish Home for the Aged (1920), later known as Sholom Home.

Johnston’s other works include the 1905 incarnation of Stillwater State Prison; two state reformatories; twenty-two churches; six public schools; and more than twenty buildings for the University of Minnesota, among them Williams Arena, Walter Library, and Northrop Auditorium. Even this list falls short of portraying the whole. Paul Clifford Larson, Johnston’s biographer, believed his own fourteen-page catalog of Johnston’s works to be incomplete.

Johnston slowed down in the early 1930s and died in 1936. His son, Clarence Johnston, Jr., also had a notable career as an architect.

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© Minnesota Historical Society
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Larson, Paul Clifford. Minnesota Architect, the Life and Work of Clarence H. Johnston. Afton, MN: Afton Historical Society Press, 1996.

Millett, Larry. AIA Guide to the Twin Cities. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 2007.

Pfaender, Jay. “Stonebridge: The Story of a Lost Estate and Oliver Crosby, the Inventive Genius Who Created It.” Ramsey County History 40, no. 3 (Fall 2005): 4–19.

Related Images

Black and white photograph of Clarence Johnston, ca. 1919.
Black and white photograph of Clarence Johnston, ca. 1919.
Black and white photograph of the William Merriam house at 25 University Avenue, c.1888. The house was Clarence Johnston’s first commission (1882). It was destroyed by fire in 1895.
Black and white photograph of the William Merriam house at 25 University Avenue, c.1888. The house was Clarence Johnston’s first commission (1882). It was destroyed by fire in 1895.
Black and white photograph of Williams Arena c.1929, soon after completion.
Black and white photograph of Williams Arena c.1929, soon after completion.
Black and white photograph of Glensheen, c.1930. Clarence Johnston designed the mansion in 1905.
Black and white photograph of Glensheen, c.1930. Clarence Johnston designed the mansion in 1905.
Black and white photograph of Stonebridge, c.1932. Designed by Clarence Johnston in 1914.
Black and white photograph of Stonebridge, c.1932. Designed by Clarence Johnston in 1914.
Black and white photograph of the Home for the Friendless on St. Paul’s Railroad Island, c.1933. Clarence Johnston designed this building in 1883. The site is now Eileen Weida Park.
Black and white photograph of the Home for the Friendless on St. Paul’s Railroad Island, c.1933. Clarence Johnston designed this building in 1883. The site is now Eileen Weida Park.
Black and white photograph of Northrop Auditorium, at the head of Northrop Mall, University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus, 1940.
Black and white photograph of Northrop Auditorium, at the head of Northrop Mall, University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus, 1940.
Black and white photograph of Ah-Gwah-Ching, the state sanatorium for consumptives, c.1950. Clarence Johnston designed buildings for this institution between 1905 and 1931.
Black and white photograph of Ah-Gwah-Ching, the state sanatorium for consumptives, c.1950. Clarence Johnston designed buildings for this institution between 1905 and 1931.
Black and white photograph of Shattuck School, Faribault, c.1949. The arch and Shumway, designed in 1886, and Morgan Refectory designed in 1888.
Black and white photograph of Shattuck School, Faribault, c.1949. The arch and Shumway, designed in 1886, and Morgan Refectory designed in 1888.
Color image of the William Lang House, 6 Crocus Hill, St. Paul built in 1935. This was Clarence Johnston’s last-known house. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 26, 2014.
Color image of the William Lang House, 6 Crocus Hill, St. Paul built in 1935. This was Clarence Johnston’s last-known house. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 26, 2014.
Color image of University Avenue Congregational Church designed in 1907. Despite its name, the address is 507 Victoria, between University and Sherburne, in Frogtown. Photograph by Paul Nelson, October 14, 2014.
Color image of University Avenue Congregational Church designed in 1907. Despite its name, the address is 507 Victoria, between University and Sherburne, in Frogtown. Photograph by Paul Nelson, October 14, 2014.
Color image of the oldest surviving Clarence Johnston house, and one of the most modest, 525 Holly, St. Paul. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 28, 2014.
Color image of the oldest surviving Clarence Johnston house, and one of the most modest, 525 Holly, St. Paul. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 28, 2014.
Color image of Clarence Johnston’s first Summit Avenue house, designed in 1883: the Addison Foster house at 490 Summit. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 27, 2014.
Color image of Clarence Johnston’s first Summit Avenue house, designed in 1883: the Addison Foster house at 490 Summit. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 27, 2014.
Color image of the John Cameron House designed in 1918, 9 Benhill Rd., St. Paul. Photograph by Paul Nelson, October 5, 2014.
Color image of the John Cameron House designed in 1918, 9 Benhill Rd., St. Paul. Photograph by Paul Nelson, October 5, 2014.
Color image of the Laurel Terrace rowhouse, 294-296 Laurel Ave., St. Paul designed in 1887. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 7, 2014.
Color image of the Laurel Terrace rowhouse, 294-296 Laurel Ave., St. Paul designed in 1887. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 7, 2014.
Color image of the Susan Welch House designed in 1894, at 785 Dayton Ave., St. Paul. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 26, 2014.
Color image of the Susan Welch House designed in 1894, at 785 Dayton Ave., St. Paul. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 26, 2014.
Color image of the Olaf Lee House designed in 1905, at 955 Jessie St., Clarence Johnston’s only house on St. Paul’s East Side. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 26, 2014.
Color image of the Olaf Lee House designed in 1905, at 955 Jessie St., Clarence Johnston’s only house on St. Paul’s East Side. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 26, 2014.
Color image of the Ernest Sperry House, 2163 Iglehart, St. Paul designed in 1908. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 29, 2014.
Color image of the Ernest Sperry House, 2163 Iglehart, St. Paul designed in 1908. Photograph by Paul Nelson, September 29, 2014.

Turning Point

In 1901 Johnston becomes Minnesota State Architect, shifting his career path away from private, residential commissions towards public works.

Chronology

1859

Johnston is born on August 26 in Okaman (now Elysian).

1874

At age fifteen Johnston starts work for St. Paul architect Abraham Radcliffe.

1878

With his friend Cass Gilbert, Johnston begins architecture school at MIT. Due to a lack of money he stays for just one semester.

1882

Johnston opens his solo architecture firm in downtown St. Paul. His first commission is William Merriam’s mansion at 25 University Avenue.

1883

Johnston tours Europe, concentrating on classical architecture in Greece and Italy. He receives his first two Summit Avenue commissions.

1886

Johnston begins a partnership with William Wilcox as Johnston & Wilcox. Johnston works on Shumway Hall, the first of several commissions for Shattuck School in Faribault.

1889

Johnston’s partnership with Wilcox ends.

1901

Johnston becomes State Architect.

1905

Johnston’s design for the Chester Congdon estate in Duluth, later called Glensheen, becomes reality at a cost of over $170,000—several million dollars in 2014 currency.

1914

Johnston designs his other mansion—Stonebridge—for Oliver Crosby of American Hoist and Derrick.

1928

Continuing into 1929, Johnston makes an enduring imprint on the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus with the construction of Williams Arena, Northrop Auditorium, and Walter Library.

1935

Johnston designs his last house, at 2163 Iglehart Avenue in St. Paul.

1936

Johnston dies in St. Paul on December 29.

2014

Thirty-two Johnston houses on Summit Avenue remain standing.