McDonnell-Pierce House
Was First on 'Big Bug Hill'

The McDonnell-Pierce house was one of the first residences on “Big Bug Hill”, Victorian Madison's most elegant neighborhood, now known as Mansion Hill.

The building at 424 N. Pinckney Street, is one of the four historic mansions still standing at the North Pinckney-East Gilman intersection, on the ridge along Lake Mendota.

Alexander McDonnell built the German Romanesque Revival building, considered by some to be the finest of its type in the country, in 1857.

McDonnell was the contractor for the second State Capitol in Madison (it was burned in 1904), which was under construction at the same time as the mansion. Both buildings have in common Prairie du Chien sandstone and architect August Kutzbock who also designed the Madison's first City Hall, the Gates of Heaven Synagogue (still standing), and other Madison homes.

The ornate exterior, which was never altered, includes wrought iron from balconies buttresses and arched windows.

Inside the 9,000 square foot mansion is a four-story, oval-shaped mahogany spiral staircase leading to a belvedere. Light passes into the marble foyer through etched Venetian windows. Originally, there were oil-painted wall designs.

The mansion's days as a single-family residence ended at the turn-of-the-century. It then became a fashionable boarding house run by Carrie Pierce, and some of the area's most notable citizens lived there.

In the 1930's, well after boarding houses fell out of favor, the building was divided into apartments, a condition that persisted until its renovation in 1983. The Alexander Company purchased the Inn and made it the elegant place it is today.

Once, the mansion was surrounded by a grove of butternut trees, gardens and a stable of Arabian horses. Now the grounds are landscaped into a Victorian garden with a beautiful fountain.