Sitting on the spectacular scenic shores of Lake Superior, Glensheen Mansion is the most visited historic home in Minnesota. Perched on 12 acres of rugged land, the area was transformed by the Congdon family into a gracious, formal estate. More than 100 years later, Glensheen needed another transformation. Struggling to tell their unique story and sell tickets, Glensheen partnered with 3five for a complete website redesign.
Through an on-site discovery session, 3five uncovered the current website’s pain points and outlined a clear plan of action. The old website didn’t deliver relevant content well, and key information and navigation items were buried, creating a disoriented user experience.
From their old website, we were able to solidify our goals for the redesign. A photography-based modern design would allow the Glensheen story to unfold, which would showcase the beauty of both the mansion and its grounds to the user. Implementing a robust calendar system for events and ticketing was essential. With a number of tours available and a changing tour schedule to coincide with the seasons, ensuring consumers are easily able to find this information was paramount. Improving site responsiveness and optimization, along with simplified, clear navigation was key for Glensheen. Allowing consumers to easily find the information they need coupled with fixed call-to-actions to buy tickets enticed consumers to commit and visit Glensheen Mansion.
Glensheen’s desire for striking visuals and a variety of layouts led to some interesting data architecture challenges. From a 3five development standpoint, building websites that are intuitive to site visitors is a priority; however, ensuring site administrators can easily manage their content is equally important. Given the complexity of the final design, 3five constructed a series of custom modules and made them available inside a default page template that Glensheen administrators can use to create unique layouts on a page-by-page basis.
Another one of Glensheen’s goals was to share their wonderful collection of photographs, and make this imagery available for download by their visitors. With this in mind, many of the modules available to Glensheen administrators allow for image uploads that span the full width of the page. Additionally, 3five created a custom gallery post type that not only allows visitors to view a series of slideshows, but also connect to a media download module that empowers those visitors to download those images for later viewing.
Glensheen proved to be an ideal partner: through strong collaboration, in-depth meetings and straightforward correspondence we were able to deliver a product that was directly inline with their vision.
Through this redesign, Glensheen needed their story to engage users. They also needed to sell tickets. Telling the tale of Glensheen through captivating imagery and content helps build relationships with consumers, often reaching them long before they start to plan their trip. It gets them familiar with the brand and destination, making them more likely to keep it top-of-mind when they are ready to start planning. We organized the content from the ground up with this goal in mind, adding testimonials throughout so users also gain trust, coaxing them to convert.
Glensheen,encased in so much history and prowess, deserved a website that reflected those qualities. Designing a website to mirror the grandeur of the estate whilst showcasing a modern, inviting aesthetic was key for this project.
At 3five, many of our clients and projects span across both the United States and the world. With Glensheen being a local entity, we were able to make a strong connection through face-to-face meetings. Working closely with Glensheen’s Marketing Director, Scottie Gardonio, we were able to capture her vision and ideas for the redesign.
Working to revive a respected local landmark and one of Duluth’s most historic sites was extremely satisfying for the 3five team.
For your viewing pleasure, head over to glensheen.org and take in the fantastic visuals.
