'Hidden nature spot': Hilltop House opens as wedding, event venue in Rochester
Jun. 10—ROCHESTER — A new set of owners will occupy the Hilltop House in Rochester.
While the house was built as a private home in 1928, the 8 acres became a community house over the years. It's the community aspect the new owners hope to share through a wedding and event venue as well as public events in the future.
"We really like that idea of an old historic house but being able to share it with the community by having a wedding venue up here and different events," Craig Johnson said.
He is one of five co-owners of Hilltop House Weddings and Events at 1735 Third Ave. NW. The team includes Craig Johnson, Kyleen Johnson, Jon Ryan, Kelsey Ryan and Mattie Schwartz along with venue coordinator Christina Jacobs. They also have careers in real estate, home construction, event planning and nursing.
Hilltop House sits above Third Avenue Northwest next to Indian Heights Park with a view of downtown Rochester. The "little gem" easily described as the "house on the hill" is a "hidden nature spot in the middle of town," as Kelsey Ryan described.
"The private oasis in the heart of Rochester, but when you're up here you don't feel there's the busyness and bustle of Rochester, you just feel like you're in your own little world up here," Schwartz said.
From a private home to a guest house and bed and breakfast, the previous owners "designed up every room" with minor interior updates for the new team to work on, including painting and flooring in the basement. They're in the midst of many projects, including a caterer building, after the 18-month process of having the city sign off on the property.
The team ventured on with their entrepreneurial spirits in opening the business as well as adding a parking lot and reception tent structure in 2023. With space for 200 people in the tent, Jon Ryan said having the tent available is a way to help couples reduce their wedding costs. The owners also hope people will enjoy the property without having to move locations throughout their wedding day.
"You can really open (the tent) up if you want to and by keeping the natural limestone walls visible, it really gives you a great outdoor feel for obviously the wedding if you're doing the ceremony outside but then it also the reception with having the tent with all the windows in it or you can open up all those side panels," Craig Johnson said.
The seven-bedroom home, which has spaces for bridal and groom suites, also sits on the property of an old limestone mill. The backyard walls of limestone are similar to Quarry Hill Nature Center's rock wall. The park has stone structures following the
limestone quarrying operation
that provided Platteville limestone to the State Hospital buildings.
With the former limestone-formed bowl blocking noise, Kyleen Johnson said there are options for small, more intimate ceremonies on patio and grass spaces on the property. The venue is booked from August to October 2023— save for one weekend. Hilltop House is accepting bookings for 2024 and 2025 on its website at
. The 2024 season will run from end of April to end of October depending on the weather.
The team said they're thankful for people who booked weddings in the snow when all they could recommend was wearing boots and a warm coat while sharing their vision for the property. Kyleen Johnson said the group is "very collaborative" and Jon Ryan said it's a "fun team effort."
With the popular trend of weddings inside converted barns, the Hilltop House offers a different style while still having those natural and woodsy elements, the owners said. To keep with the outdoor theme, they hope to add an air chapel instead of the tent in the coming years.
The team is also hoping to fill a need of more wedding venues in Rochester. The closest wedding venue style is the Plummer House, which is an 11-acre facility with space for up to 100 people for weddings, receptions, meetings, classes and parties.
"Just walking up to the front door just like kind of feel a sense of peace and calm just knowing that the view is right there," Kelsey Ryan described. "I think it will always be evolving as far as landscaping projects, decorating the inside just so it grows with us and our personalities."
Between the seasons from winter to fall, the property becomes less hidden — just the way the owners like. Visitors to the property often share their impressions about the house up on the hill, which is visible from North Broadway Avenue.
"History will probably show that the peacefulness of this abode will be a healing for many souls," wrote a guest in the bed and breakfast's guest journal.
The team is planning music, bean bag and market events in the coming years as their vision to offer a space for the community to gather grows.
"One thing that we do like is that there are so many options for couples coming in or just different events. They don't all have to look the same, there's a dozen different places that you could hold a ceremony on the property," Kyleen Johnson said. "Their vision is where the possibilities end."
Dr. Joseph T. Asbury started construction on the home in 1928, the same year he married Edith Asbury on June 30. The "beautiful country home," or "private castle," offered "delightful panoramic view of the city," according to marketing brochures later used to sell the home.
Asbury established a medical practice in Rochester and owned 1,000 acres in Bowman County, Illinois, according to an Asbury family scrapbook.
"The Asbury's life on the hill was brief," wrote Nood Reynolds in a magazine article. Joseph Asbury was killed in a farming accident on the property in July 1929. The Asburys are buried next to each other in a cemetery in Bowen, Illinois.
Over the years, the house was owned by the Asburys, the Mayo Foundation, Dr. Louis W. Repsold as the Hilltop Guest House, Dr. John Grindlay, and
Jeff and Ann Bolin as Hilltop Haven Bed and Breakfast.
It's
rumored Al Capone stayed there
and Ferry Command pilots rented rooms in the house during World War II.
During the war, upwards of 10,000 military and civilian flights departed from the Rochester airport. As Ferry Command pilots transporting planes, the
Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron
flew in groups of three. There was a base at the Rochester airport but the pilots did not stay there, according to historian Lee Hilgendorf.
"Overnight accommodations could be a challenge for (Women's Airforce Service Pilots), as some bases did not have provisions for 'in-transit' pilots and stopover bases were usually removed from towns, making transportation unpredictable," wrote Julia Lauria-Blum in an
article on the National WASP World War II museum website.
The pilots in Rochester would work on airplane maintenance projects as well before the planes were flown to Russia. The planes were built in Indiana before being flown to Rochester, North Dakota, Washington, Alaska and then traded off above Alaska on the Aleutian Islands.
"I love the historical aspect of the house," Kyleen Johnson said. "When you go through and you look at some of the previous owners and some of the stories that you'll hear ... there's some really fun historical things about it."
