The sixty-three room Rufus R. Rand mansion was about half completed when it was destroyed by fire. It was eventually completed and crowned the “Still Pond” estate on 250 acres west of Gray’s Bay. Built at the height of the Great Depression, this amazing French Chateau style house had 14 bedrooms, 13 fireplaces, 16 bathrooms, a marble staircase, a tunnel, sunken gardens, fountains, an observatory and a 1.3-million-gallon swimming pool. The outer walls were 17 inches thick. The 25,175-square-foot mansion was designed by McEnary & Larson and built for $400,000. The house was often referred to as the finest suburban house west of Chicago.

Cargill’s conversion from a private mansion to a corporate center included the addition of a large parking lot, cafeteria and elaborate offices and large trading rooms. The facility was also modernized to handle the load of communications and power required by 40+ employees of the organization. It was the epicenter of a global food powerhouse that influenced markets and the ebb and flow of commodities all over the world.