In 1997, a battle ensued over a small stucco house dwarfed by the state buildings surrounding it near the State Capitol in St. Paul. By then, the house seemed old and had been converted into an office of the state’s criminal justice system. When the Dahl family built it in 1858, however, it was the last of nearly 1,500 working class homes constructed in the neighborhood. At its construction, it cost $300 and had a full basement but no kitchen. This was added in 1886.
