HISTORY
Resting on 360 acres along the St Croix River, The Acreage and surrounding region has a unique cultural, natural, and creative history.
In the 1940s, fishermen observed artifacts eroding from a riverbank near Osceola and contacted archeologists. Subsequent excavations found a layer of Woodland Culture artifacts over an Archaic period cemetery. Distinctive spear tips and copper implements within the burials indicated association with the Old Copper Culture of about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago. Old Copper sites are most common in eastern Wisconsin, and the Osceola discoveries may represent a community involved in copper trade from its source at Lake Superior down the Mississippi River and St. Croix River. The Mississippian and Oneota peoples used the St Croix River for transportation and seasonal villages as evident by the large number of conical mortuary and effigy mounds that are dispersed across the upper St Croix Watershed.
Sargent, Sanford C., Ojibwe family on the banks of the St Croix River, 1885. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN.
Royce, Charles C. and Cyrus Thomas. Indian land cessions in the United States. 1899. Law Library of Congress.
The St Croix watershed formed the northeastern boundary of a vast Dakota homeland prior to the arrival of European explorers. Dakota oral tradition supports the idea of a connection between the Dakota and the people who lived in his region before them. Settlement patterns and mound burial practices also supports this connection. By the 17th century, European arrival on the east coast created pressure on the tribes of the eastern coastal region. By the mid 1600s the Huron, Ottawa, and Fox entered eastern Dakota territory increasing regional tensions between tribes. By 1660 four thousand Ojibwe are living near Chequamegon Bay in northern Wisconsin. Alliances were built with the Dakota people and other tribes to prepare for what they saw coming—the expansion of European peoples from the east. Through the expansion of the fur trade into the early 1800s followed by European expansion and demands for land, life for all native peoples is forever changed.
Prior to European arrival to the area in 1844, The Acreage was the ancestral home of the Wahpekute band of the Dakota people. The Dakota word Wahpekute means wakhpe, leaf; kute, to shoot—or “Shooters in the leaves”. The Mendota Treaty of 1851 relocated the Wahpekute people to the Lower Sioux Reservation in Morton, Minnesota.
OSCEOLA IS ESTABLISHED
Douglas Volk, © Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Volk, Douglas. Mending the Canoe,1893 print. The Mariner’s Museum and Park, Newport News, VA.
The upper Midwest was famous for fur trading and timber industries. An 1837 treaty with the Dakota and Ojibwe opened the region to European settlers. The discovery of Cascade Falls in 1844 by lumber prospectors as a possible power supply established the village of Osceola, which was incorporated in 1886.
Also known for its beauty and healing waters, Osceola became a destination for artists.
In 1890 Douglas Volk, a prominent Chicago artist purchased a land tract building a rustic lodge which became known locally as “Boulder Wall”. He offered painting classes and lured other artists to the area. Volk later went on to serve as the first President of the Minneapolis College of Art now know as the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
In 1908 Oliver C. Wyman of Minneapolis purchased the property from Volk building a home to serve as a summer home. Wyman called the estate Wycroft, a combination of the name Wyman and the Scottish term “croft” meaning farm. However, the property remained locally known as Boulderwall. The prairie style home was designed by Edwin Hewitt of the Hewitt and Brown architecture firm who also designed Twin Cities landmarks like St. Mark’s Cathedral, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Hennepin Methodist Church
…known for its beauty and healing waters, Osceola became a destination for artists.
Boulderwall’s interior reflects the craftsman movement of the era. The dining room’s hand-painted peacock wallpaper, copper lighting fixtures, and fireplace mantel’s handmade tiles were designed and crafted by the Handicraft Guild of Minneapolis. The Handicraft Guild was instrumental in establishing the thriving arts community in the Twin Cities whose legacy is evident today. Boulderwall remained in two families, the Wymanns and Ladds throughout its timeline. Aveda founder Horst Rechelbacher purchased the Boulderwall estate from the Ladd family in1988.
The Acreage property was the main residence of Horst and his wife Kiran Stordalen from 1988 to 2014. For Horst, the Osceola Estate was not only a home and sanctuary, but also a place to connect people and plants with the earth. During the Aveda years, it was the location of the Aveda Spa, an immersive wellness experience. It was then followed by a small, organic farm and distillery that allowed for the study and exploration of new product concepts.
Horst led the organic and eco-conscious beauty movements in the United States and, in the process, took Aveda from a line of plant-based shampoos (first mixed in his kitchen sink) to a global brand built on the principle of sourcing fair-trade and organic ingredients.
More than businessman, Horst was a true industry pioneer transforming the beauty industry in pursuit of healthy environments for not only salons through organic products, but for the health of the earth as well. In 1989 Aveda was endorsed by the Coalition of Environmentally Responsible Economies, the first business to receive this international recognition.
Ten years following the sale of Aveda to Estée Lauder in 1997, Horst introduced Intelligent Nutrients to the beauty world.
Horst always believed that business could be a force for good in the world and that the power of a single, one-pointed vision could make the impossible possible. He signed all his correspondence "Yours in service for a green, healthy and non-violent planet" and this is the vision he left for The Acreage at Osceola.
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THE ACREAGE
The Acreage is open for programs and events throughout the year. Check out our events page to learn more about upcoming opportunities to explore, discover, and connect at The Acreage.
