A cattle gate is a temporary stand-in for the ornate iron western gate of the Glensheen Historic Estate.
One hundred years of deterioration afflicted the hand-forged Jacobean-style gate built in 1907, which led to the front door of the mansion.
"The Congdons' guests who arrived by car used to come in that gate," said Lori Melton, director of marketing for Glensheen. Visitors were dropped off at the front door, and their cars would continue out the east gate.
"Today it is usually kept shut, but the Congdons used it quite a bit," she said.
UMD facilities management is rebuilding the gate in its original 1907 design, down to the elegant curls. Straight bars were added over time to replace rotting curls, said Michael Swanson, facilities manager at UMD. Because the gate is a fire entrance, its condition was a safety concern, he said.
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Replacing the gate with a replica of the original will cost $20,000 and take about a month to complete.
The English manor house was officially completed in 1909 by Chester and Clara Congdon, who moved their family of six children into the mansion in 1908 as finishing touches were being made. Chester Congdon was a mining developer, attorney and legislator. The estate was bequeathed to the University of Minnesota in 1968. Elisabeth Congdon, the last surviving Congdon child, lived there until she was slain at the mansion along with her night nurse, Velma Pietila, in 1977. Congdon was 83. UMD opened the estate for tours in 1979.
