Friday History: The House That got a Parking Ticket

By KA Archivist, Matt Goff

Almost every folder in the Kraus-Anderson history archive tells a story, but the one told within the folder labeled “362 Smith Avenue” is particularly charming and remarkably well-documented. Starting with the punchline: Kraus-Anderson owned a house that was cited for illegal parking.

To tell the story from the beginning: Kraus Anderson opened a St. Paul office in 1949, and operated this ever-growing branch office near the corner Smith and Grand Avenues (current location of Hope Breakfast Bar) without the benefit of off-street parking until the 1970s. A hand-written letter in the archives made clear that a house on Smith Avenue adjacent to KA St. Paul became available around 1972.

But years would pass until these 40 by 100 feet of St. Paul real estate would be converted to 22 parking spaces.

It was 1978 when KA first brought the issue before the city of St. Paul. The parking lot wasn’t strictly kosher, but the Board of Appeals decided that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks and allowed the new parking lot.

The century-old house that was then resting on the lot in question wasn’t the focus of the June 1978 meeting, but, to Kraus-Anderson’s credit, great care was taken over that summer preserve it. A deal was struck between KA and a local contractor Peter Quinn, who is something of a St. Paul legend. Aside from his work restoring old houses, Peter and his wife Linda opened Grand Avenue’s Café Latte in 1984. This establishment (I hope you share my astonishment) is credited with operating the first espresso machine in Minnesota.

In 1978 Peter Quinn was busy contributing to the restoration of Irvine Park, St. Paul’s oldest residential neighborhood, which was then being reborn just across 7^th Street from Kraus-Anderson’s St. Paul office.

Rather than demolish their newly acquired Victorian pile, KA struck a deal with Peter Quinn, who had a spot on Irvine Park just begging for a century house. There was, apparently, some resistance at City Hall to the move, but the plan moved forward.

Tension built in the late summer of 1978. Peter Quinn was evidently having trouble preparing the house’s new location at 56 Irvine Park, and in September of 1978, it appeared that the whole deal was off.

It is unclear what compelled the parties to move forward, but, as we see from a parking ticket dated October 15th the site was still unprepared to receive its new old house when the house movers finally showed up.

The whole story ended happily. Not only does the old house continue to be an ornament to the Irvine Park Historic District, but the parking ticket was also dismissed.