Town House Restaurant
1415 University Ave.
St. Paul
THE TOWN HOUSE
The Town House Restaurant was located at 1415 University Ave., St. Paul.
This building was built in 1924 and is still there. Chat on Facebook reveals that Russian-born architect Werner Wittkamp remodeled the building in the 1940s.
The photos below, from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, are from 1952.
At one time it was owned by Pat and Veronica McLean and managed by son Bob.
Clark Armstead (of Clark’s Submarines) owned it from the early 1960s to 1968.
THE WHITE HOUSE
In an article about R&B, Allan Holbert mentioned the Town House as a venue to hear it, along with King Solomon’s Mines and the Cozy Bar. (Minneapolis Tribune, December 3, 1967)
For a period from at least August 1967 and late May 1968, ads and news articles referred to it as the White House, not to be confused with the much better known White House in Golden Valley. It was owned by William T. Heine. Heine had been in the papers a couple of times during that period, accused of sexual harassment by two of the club’s dancers, which were dismissed for lack of evidence. Then, Heine ran for Mayor of St. Paul while his place of residence was in Eagan, claiming that he actually slept on a cot at the club so it was all right. It wasn’t. He was allowed to stay on the ticket, but he lost. On May 28, 1968, the liquor license to the White House was transferred to Patrick A. Conroy, a private contractor.
THE TOWN HOUSE
The venue’s life as the White House appears to have been short, and it reverted back to the Town House.
Emmet Jewel bought it in 1968 and sold it in 1985, just before he passed away. In 1977 it was listed as a gay bar.
Holly Monnett managed it for many years and bought it from Jewell in 1985.
Monnett sold it to Wes Burdine, and in August 2018 Burdine opened it as the Black Hart.