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Carl Peterson Site, St. James, MN

The Site

During the first half of the twentieth century, Swedish immigrant Carl Peterson filled his St. James, Minnesota, garden with ponds, fountains, animal figures, architectural elements, and dozens of miniature buildings. Relying on his skills as a blacksmith, cabinetmaker, and railroad worker, he created a fairy-tale village primarily from scrap metal and pipes covered in concrete and embellished with stones. Many were topped with egg-shaped finials.

Likely inspired by his research into formal English gardens, Swedish architecture, and a local ice sculpture carving competition, Peterson’s fantasy environment was meant as a place of relaxation and contemplation for his seven children.

His son, Filbert, lived in the home until 1985, at which point a Minnesota art and antiques dealer purchased the work and dismantled the site.

In 2007, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center was gifted some of Peterson’s sculptures from the Kohler Foundation, Inc. Today, fifteen large pieces are installed in the Arts Center gardens, and ten are on view at the Art Preserve.

Carl Peterson

1869–1969

Carl Peterson. Photo: c. 1902, courtesy of Joyce Reese.

Carl Peterson was born in 1869 in the hamlet of Slomarp, near Mjölby, Östergötland, Sweden. He was given the birth name of Carl Emil Andersson and was the first of Anders Peter and Augusta (nee Berggren) Carlsson’s seven children. Growing up with an enthusiasm for design, Peterson gained experience as a blacksmith, cabinetmaker, and sculptor. At nineteen, his parents put him on the steamship Romeo bound for Hull, England, hoping that he would find a better life. From Hull, he sailed to the United States, joining his uncle Johan Rask, a farmer living near Darfur, Minnesota.

In the early 1920s, Carl Peterson settled in St. James, Minnesota. For over forty years, Peterson transformed his yard into a formal garden full of miniature buildings.

After his son’s death in 1985, the site was dismantled and over fifty components were donated to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

Selected Works by Carl Peterson

Further Reading

“Carl Peterson” Kohler Foundation: A History, edited by Terri Yoho, 306-11. Kohler, WI: Kohler Foundation, Inc., 2018.

“Carl Peterson: A Little Magic.” In Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds: Built Environments of Vernacular Artists, edited by Leslie Umberger, 95-109. Sheboygan: John Michael Kohler Arts Center and Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.

Johannesson, Lena. “On Folk Art and Other Modernities.” In Swedish Folk Art: All Tradition Is Change, eds. Barbra Klein and Mats Widbom, 42. New York: Henry Abrahms in association with Kulturhuset Stockholm, 1994.

Stone, Lisa. “Preserving Elements of Carl Peterson’s Yard Environment.” In Sublime Spaces and Visionary Worlds: Built Environments of Vernacular Artists, edited by Leslie Umberger, 414. Sheboygan: John Michael Kohler Arts Center and Princeton Architectural Press, 2007.

Additional Resources

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