Rondo's House

When Josopli Rondo, n the year 1813, ereutod a cabía 14x16. oí hewn ■ ; loga, filled iu w.th adobu, on the claim he hail purchased three years previous i of Kdwanl Phclan, he did uot thlnk i that he was erecting a building that : n the jear 1887 would stand within 150 i i feet of the liamUooiest street in St. Paul- viz., Sumniit avenue, and tha would be passcd daily by thousands ol '. people. uncouscioug of either ttt proiimity or its history. Yet such ia the ; fact Kuniorous buildings in the city have during the last lix years been riesignated na "the oldest huuse in St. ' Í Paul," wbile this littlfl structure, j cstly shielded froiu an Inquisitivo ! : lic, maintnined in silouce its titlo wrongfully Uestowed upoa otber antlquated anu dilapidated house. The residente on Suntmit avenue, and ! ticularly tlio.ie liviug in close proximIty to Suminit park, will undoubtedly be surprised to learn that tbe hoasa rightfully callud "the oldest house in [ St. Paul' is loeated iu tht vioiulty. I The buildingr. na already statad. was built and and occupted by Josoph Rondo in 1843, and was his habitation, ss sbown by oflk-lal record, nntil 1855, ; when he sold it and the iour acres of round cornpusing his demusne to the i lat John Nicols. Iu 1856 Mr. Nicols removed the old house from its origij nal loeation to the eastern part of the ; property, and erectod in i' ; stead the ; eabsUtntial ad comino ions ton building now known as the Kieols liomcstoa'l. Contrary to tbe usual practice. Mr. Kicols did not poll down the old Rondo honse. but rather preserved it by incorporating it into ■ i barn that was erected around and above it Recently it was tbe pleasur of a Globe reporter to dicovcr the old ; relie, and, by tbe coartesy of John R. Nicols, w!ir gucceeded his father m i partner in the firm oi Niools & Dean, have acceas to family document tbat istablish bevond a doubt the claims et forth the Rondo house. The mlddle door on the south side of the barn opens direcl ly into the old house, which, except win i-u tbe adobe has fallen out, ' is in nearly us good a state of ! tion as when erected. The timbers are of oak, and plainly show the mark of the ax witli which they were hewed. i i'hoso on th o side are eross-sectioned, and all the intervening spaco around . the room, exceptig the doors and th windows, filled witli adobe, composed of broken limestono as the foundation, cemented toojcthcr w th morcar. ïh original roof. as an examn ilion of th hay niow will show, lias beun removed and tl; bui'n roof substituted therefor. ' [n lliia connection it may be well to ! state whoa Mr. Nicols purchased tb property, consist.ng at t at time of tour acres, it was regar led by h'g ! friends n.s a foolish ventui , several of thcm predicting that "it would never be worth the price paid for it ($1,200). is it was too far out of town." Mr. EsTicola wiis oblied to break a road througti the hazel brush fiom St. Anthony street (Summit avonue) oyer which to baul the material for bis iwalling.-