Brightwood Beach Cottage

Brightwood Beach Cottage is an historic octagonal building on the southern shore of Lake Ripley in Litchfield, Minnesota, United States, that once was a part of the Brightwood Beach Resort of the late nineteenth century. The resort opened in 1889, and it offered cultural amenities such as concerts, classes in fine arts, and other live entertainment. Other summer activities included dancing, ball games, and canoeing and steamboat excursions on Lake Ripley.[2] The Minnesota Editorial Association, in a report at the time, called Brightwood "the most lovely spot in Minnesota" and a "gem of a lake with pebbly shores and blue as the vaults of heaven." Thousands of people visited the resort, many of them wealthy individuals pictured in suits and fancy dresses, but the resort was not financially successful. In 1893, the resort was forced to close, a victim of the Panic of 1893 and competition from resorts to the north that became accessible by railroad.[3] The octagonal cottage that was used as a steamboat waiting area and landing station remained on Lake Ripley. It was sold to Dr. Frank E. Bissell and later to Tipton Fester McClure in 1907. McClure was an investor in the Litchfield Glove Factory. The McClures rented it out after enclosing the south side with screens and making a kitchen and bedroom in the main part. Vern Sederstrom bought the house in 1950 and he sold it to Raynold and Myrtle Allen, whose son Richard was a close friend of my brother Mike. For many years, the octagonal cottage was the Allen’s summer home. The Allens had the cottage registered on the National Registry of Historical Places. On May 22, 1978, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places[1]

Brightwood Beach Cottage
Nearest cityLitchfield, Minnesota
Coordinates45°5′54.34″N 94°32′20.29″W
Built1889
ArchitectPhelps, G.B.
NRHP reference No.78001551 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 22, 1978

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 15, 2006.
  2. Koutsky, Kathryn Strand (2006). Minnesota Vacation Days: An Illustrated History. Linda Koutsky. Minnesota Historical Society.
  3. "Brightwood Beach". Meeker County Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. Retrieved 2013-04-10.

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