Ring (1851–1930), his office, a public hospital, American Legion hall, rest home, apartments, and a bed and breakfast inn.

The Gingerbread Mansion is the largest residential building in Ferndale, with three floors, 32 rooms,[2]: 20  11 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and extensive gardens in 1975 when it had been converted into apartments.

[5]: 92 : 107  The Ring Mansion was unusually well-built, even for its time, from the concrete foundation up to 2 feet (0.61 m) crawl spaces between floors.

[5] The highly ornamented original portion of the home is in front, an addition in 1920 added the less decorated section at the rear to serve as the town hospital.

Ring was born Haagan J. Fjorkenstad, son of Jens and Helene Fjokenstad on February 17, 1851, on an estate in Norway named Ringtogen.

[6]: 198 He married his wife Ida (1860–1901) before 1877 and they moved back to Whalan, Minnesota where Ring had a medical practice and drug store.

[2] Ring was one of the town's physicians until 1930, surviving his wife Ida who died in 1900, subsequently marrying widow Eleanor Black Andreasen, with whom he had two more sons (Harlan, born 1905, and Ingvald Taft).

From 1894 to 1896 he was in practice with Dr. Ross at various locations including next to the Red Star Clothing store on Main Street.

The Taubman's were sons of the owner of Ferndale's Red Star Clothing Store on Main Street.

[5]: 94 In 1910 Dr. Ring and Dr. Phelan opened the first Ferndale General Hospital at a building on Washington Street formerly occupied by the Catholic Convent.

[5]: 94 New Ferndale Hospital opens to public; is finely equipped ... splendidly located on Berding street at the corner of Brown, the spacious building, with modern equipment and planned to obtain the most perfect results for convenience and comfort, stands as a monument to the progressiveness of the people of this valley, who have made its construction possible ... a corridor runs the entire length of the building on the lower floor.

[5]: 95  At about this time, the Ferndale General Hospital closed and Dr. Ring had offices on Main Street in the Heney building.

[2] During the 1970s, owners Thomas Manning and Donald L. Dickerson[6]: 202  maintained and enhanced the garden's border shrubbery, story-tall camellias at the entry, brick paths, statues, and fountains.

[2] The first floor was returned to classical Victorian style, but at least one author has been surprised by the sensual nature of the upstairs bedrooms.