Nestled along the shores of Lake Pepin in the hills of southern Minnesota is a French chateau bordered on three sides by Frontenac State Park. Now a hotel and event venue, Villa Maria’s Catholic history stretches back — it may be the site of a fort where Jesuit missionaries celebrated the first Mass in Minnesota in 1732.
While archeology does not provide a clear answer as to when a fort was first built on the hill, history has recorded 1885 as the year that the owner of the adjacent resort town, Old Frontenac, donated many acres of land to the Ursuline order to build a school.
Villa Maria opened a few years later as a boarding school for girls in grades six through 12. It was dedicated by Archbishop John Ireland in 1891 with over 2,000 guests in attendance. The academy was devoted to educating young women with courses in art, music, elocution, German and French. Touted as one of the best schools in the state or even the country, the curriculum also featured sciences from botany to astronomy. Protestant and Catholic families from Minneapolis, Chicago, and even as far as Mexico, sent their daughters to school at the Villa which was “strictly undenominational” and touted for its healthful fresh air and sunshine.
Outside of class hours, students rambled around the wooded property and enjoyed meals with fruits and vegetables that had been grown on the grounds. This was true both during the academic year and when summer camps were hosted on site. For six glorious weeks in the summer in the 1930s, girls went horseback riding, took swimming lessons and played sports like kittenball (invented by a Minneapolis firefighter and a precursor to softball). Advertised under the slogan “adventure in safety,” campers transitioned inside after 8 p.m., sleeping in the dormitories under the supervision of the nuns.
Following World War II, the academy expanded to include elementary grades and grew from 100 to 150 students. With the help of financial support from alumnae and board members, the Ursulines built a new chateau-style building as a dormitory and residence for the students and nuns. It featured parlors with ornate French furniture pieces donated by a former French ambassador and modern amenities like a large gymnasium and new chapel. This is the beautiful building that remains today.
The Villa’s academic building went up in flames in 1969 after being hit by a lightning strike. The school closed at the end of the academic year, with falling enrollment at Catholic schools across the archdiocese likely playing a role in the decision not to rebuild. Over the next decades, the chateau became an ecumenical retreat center under the leadership of the Ursulines who continued to make use of its scenic site. Its location along the Mississippi River also made it an especially popular place for birders to watch seasonal migrations. In 2018, a St. Paul developer purchased the property and initiated its current transformation.
Luiken is a Catholic and a historian with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She loves exploring and sharing the hidden histories that touch our lives every day.
