Some of the plantings that were on site in 1976 remain today: The bed of ferns in the front, the lilacs (see photo above), the pink honeysuckle, the rhubarb plants, and a bed of phlox.
In 1988 gardener Martin Stern, now owner of the Squire House Gardens in Afton, re-designed the garden beds. He added a brick walk along the south side of the house, and planted shrub roses and perennials in the beds. Over the years the plantings have changed somewhat, but Stern’s vision remains.
A patio was added when the summer kitchen was rebuilt, and a cedar privacy fence erected in the back yard. Uptown paving bricks were used to fill in the space between the patio and the bed against the garage.
Over the decades, the Beardsley-Cartwright House has been altered, but slowly, incrementally. The decades of restoration work have produced a house that is unique and quite special among Minneapolis Victorian houses: an 1885 house that retains much of its 1880’s appearance inside and out. Yet its modern appliances, storm windows, modern insulation, security system, central heating and air-conditioning make it a much more comfortable home than it was in the 19th century. In 2648 Emerson Avenue South, we see the best of both worlds, the historic and the modern.
