In the fall of 2017 over Thanksgiving, I took a 3-day solo trip across southwest and southern Minnesota to find and photo more hidden gems.  I started in Ortonville, went down through Pipestone, over to Albert Lea, up through Northfield and eventually back home to northern Minnesota.  This was a section of Minnesota I had only been through a handful of times in my life, and it was an unseasonably warm few days, which made for a great opportunity to do some photography, exploring, and discovering.

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Easily the most widely-known and visionary architect in US history, Frank Lloyd Wright designed incredibly unique and beautiful homes, churches, and other assorted architecture in his organic, “Usonian” style. It often featured broad, flat edges, dramatic angles, and unique building materials. But did you know he also designed a gas station once, and it’s right here in Minnesota? Continue reading →

Once there were three.  Three little stone houses, igloos, castles, or whatever you want to call them.  Built almost 100 years ago by Thaddeus Giddings, as part of a whimsical garden area on small islands along the Rum River where it meanders its way towards the Mississippi River down below Anoka, surrounded by weeping willows. Now there is only one remaining. Continue reading →

Often times during a boom period, things are built with the high hopes and aspirations of fortune; when the boom dies down (or the project itself is unfeasible), we are left with abandoned things, like the curious “Cribs” structure, also known as Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum.  Continue reading →