It was originally built for William Kimball, a furniture manufacturer; the Van Cleves were the second owners.

Horatio P. Van Cleve served as colonel of the 2nd Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment and later a general during the American Civil War.

His wife, Charlotte Ouisconsin Clark Van Cleve, was the mother of 12 children, a women's suffrage advocate, and the first woman elected to the Minneapolis School Board.

She was also a social reformer who founded an organization to help "erring women" in 1875.

[2] The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.