Charles Gluek's 1906 Italian Renaissance House on Mount Curve

A 1906 residence on Mount Curve Avenue in Lowry Hill was built for Charles Gluek, a member of the Minneapolis brewing family. Its stately yellow-brick exterior and restored ceramic-tile roof reflect an Italian Renaissance design, and the Star Tribune has described the house as a yellow-brick beauty with hints of that style.

The house dates to the building boom that filled Mount Curve in the first decade of the 20th century, when some of the city's most expensive homes rose along the ridge. Its neighbors drew on a range of European precedents, from Renaissance Revival to Arts and Crafts; the Gluek house leaned into the Italian Renaissance, complete with the tile roof that distinguishes the style. Other 1906 Mount Curve mansions nearby, such as the William Channing Whitney-designed home at 1415 Mount Curve built for lumber baron Arthur Ross Rogers, reflect the same era of industrial wealth announcing itself on the hill.

The Gluek name ties the house to the brewing industry that, alongside lumber and milling, built fortunes in turn-of-the-century Minneapolis. The family left a wide architectural footprint, from the John G. and Minnie Gluek House at 2447 Bryant Avenue South in the Wedge to several other mansions across the area.

The restored roof and intact craftsmanship make the Mount Curve house one of the better-preserved examples of its style on the ridge. Period roofing, masonry and detailing are expensive and specialized, and each successful restoration strengthens the preservation case for the houses around it. A restored original reads as itself; a cheap replacement erases the very detail that made the house worth noticing.

[unverifiable: an exact street address for the Charles Gluek house on Mount Curve could not be confirmed in available public records; the 1906 date, brewing-family ownership and Italian Renaissance description are drawn from the Star Tribune.]

Sources: Star Tribune,; Southwest Voices,