Heirloom Home
John and Nanni Caesa House
John Caesar was born in Sweden in 1856. He came to the U.S. in 1869, but he first showed up in Stillwater in the 1880 U.S. Census where he is recorded as a 24 year old watchmaker, living along with 62 other people in the Central House, a boarding establishment on Chestnut Street. The following year, he is listed in the Stillwater City Directory as a jeweler with a business address on Main Street. Three years later, his listing in the City Directory has expanded considerably: "Caesar, John, watches, clocks, jewelry. Diamonds, silverware and precious stone, 120 S. Main."
The jewelry business must have been very profitable because in 1886, when he was only 30 years old, he had built his grand home at 801 West Pine Street, which was valued by the tax assessor at $3,300.
His wife, Nanni, came from Sweden to this country in 1883, and a year later, John and Nanni were married. The family settled in at their new house on Pine Street. The 1900 U.S. Census records their household as John, age 50; Nanni, age 41; John’s brother, Peter, age 45; their daughter, Kamma (?), born in 1884; another daughter, Bertha, born in 1887; a son, John, born in 1890; and a 16-year-old servant girl, Anna Sodergren.
The 1910 Census records John, 60; his wife, Nanny, 51; Bertha, 23, a schoolteacher; and John, 19. In 1920, there is a building permit in which it appears the house was converted into a duplex. The U.S. Census for that year records John, age 69; his wife, Nannie, age 61; John Jr,, age 29, a draftsman. Also living in the house as renters were Lloyd Kolliner, age 24, a retail clothing merchant; and his wife Zeana, age 25.
In the early 1920s, the Caesar family seems to disappear. There are no death certificates for the family, nor do they seem to be recorded anywhere in the U.S. Census.
The 1930 Census records a new family in the house, which is valued at $18,000, an enormous sum for that time in the middle of the depression. Listed are Bert Lund, age 39, the manager of the Northern State Power Company in Stillwater; his wife, Mary, age 36; a son, Arthur, age 13; a son, Robert, age 11; and a son, Bert, age 9. The Lund family lived in the house through the 1960s. Bert died October 1, 1972, in Washington County. Mary died July 10, 1982.
Today the house is a Bed and Breakfast under the direction of Rita Graybill.
This house is representative of a number of Stick Style houses built in Stillwater in the late 1880s. The steeply pitched cross gable roofs, the decorative truss at the apex of the front gable, the horizontal and vertical bands raised from the wall for emphasis, and an open front porch with spindle work are all characteristics of the Stick Style.
Source(s): Information complied by Donald Empson, Empson Archives on 3/24/2009. Building date and value is from the original annual tax assessors’ rolls, 1885-1887 (on microfilm in the St. Croix Collection, Stillwater Public Library); City of Stillwater Building Permit Application #1789. The U.S. Census from 1880 to 1930 were very useful, as were the Stillwater City Directories.
Washington County Parcel Identification Number (PIN): 2803020340061
Common Property Name: John and Nanni Caesa House
Neighborhood: Pine Street
State Historic Preservation Office Inventory Number: WA-SWC-1716
Construction Date: 1886
Architectural Style: Stick