Renner House: Bruess Style

Behind her many accolades as a Professor Emerita, author and researcher, Carol Bruess has another talent—interior design.

A homemade chandelier made of dozens of globes greets visitors at the entry of the Renner House, bright blue AV carts repurposed as side tables sit next to couches and vibrant mismatched thrifted china line the dining table and bookshelves.

When the Bruess’s found out that Brian was selected as the first ever joint president in March, the process of moving from De Pere, Wis. to St. Joseph began. The choice of where to live, the SJU President’s House on Fruit Farm Road or CSB’s Renner House on College Ave. was left up to the Bruess’s.

“Everyone said that you’re going to want to live at Renner because it was built for this purpose. It’s built for entertainment and it’s highly accessible in all ways,” Bruess said.“We [chose] this house because we wanted to send a very clear message that just because you have a man as a president, there’s nothing second thought or left behind about St. Ben’s ever.”

The house is 5,200 feet total, but only 1,800 is private living space. It was built intentionally with a university president in mind—there is a spiral staircase running through the back of the house for privacy and family use, two private guest bedrooms downstairs and a professional-grade dishwasher and refrigerator in the kitchen. The remaining 3,400 feet are used as an entertaining space for guests of the President and the family.

Living out the Benedictine value of hospitality, the Bruess’ have already hosted several groups including the sisters of the Order of St. Benedict as their first guests to the home, as well as the Institute for Women’s Leadership student employees, the student Senates, the CSB+SJU Facilities teams and more. The Renner House, named after Sister Emmanuel Renner, was completed in 2005. Renner served as CSB President from 1979 to 1986 and oversaw the completion of Evin Hall, Claire Lynch Gym and Clemens Library. She was also a student at CSB, History Department Chair and Trustee throughout her life.

“I am pleased that the current president and his wife have chosen to live in the Renner House. The location is ideal, and the building is designed for hospitality, an important Benedictine value,” said Sister Philip Zimmer, a friend of Renner who joined the monastery at the same time as her.

Bruess has been a creative her entire life. She references pictures of her as a child on the couch, drawing instead of playing outside when her family was up north at a cabin. When she started her undergraduate degree at St. Norbert College as a first-generation college student, she had high ambitions and expectations as a pre-law student but quickly changed her mind. After taking personality assessment after personality assessment everything was pointing her in the direction of art.

Although she was an art major in her undergraduate education, Bruess eventually went on to get a PhD in Communication.

“When I was in this class about interpersonal communication, it just lit my heart on fire. And what I realized from an internship in graphic design was that doing art for pay with clients completely sucked the joy out of it for me,” Bruess said.“[That experience made me] want to keep art for myself.”

From there, Bruess went on to design and make her own wedding dress and develop her own sense of personal interior design style—so much so that it’s been recognized publicly. Her old home in St. Paul has been featured in a Room and Board catalog and by the Minnesota Monthly, a magazine that celebrates Minnesota’s arts, entertainment, food and culture.

A key feature of the Renner House decor and Bruess’s personal style is that nearly everything is thrifted or found secondhand in some capacity. There’s a custom-framed Frank Lloyd Wright silk scarf that was bought at the St. Cloud Goodwill, an oil painting she estimates being worth thousands that was $20 on Facebook Marketplace and bright blue AV carts that she took home after an IT employee at the University of St. Thomas was going to throw them away as they were being phased out.

“Carol has an eye for style… everything in the house is so unique and works. It definitely adds to the welcoming environment, and I definitely need some thrifting tips,” said Annie McGuire, CSB senior and Hynes Scholar Coordinator for the IWL.

McGuire was invited for a visit during orientation along with her fellow student workers.

Much of Bruess’s interior design inspiration comes from her friends, some of which are close to home at CSB+SJU. Cory Piper, announced last week as the new Dean of Admission for CSB+SJU, has known the Bruess’s for decades through her work alongside President Bruess at St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

“[Cory] has an impeccable taste and she’s also a huge thrifter,” Bruess said.

Piper is not the only CSB+SJU influence on space. Although most of the furniture is owned by the Bruess’, the piano, dining table and some art pieces are owned by the school. Several pieces of art throughout the home are the work of former CSB students, which are now paired alongside the artwork of St. Norbert, St. Catherine and St. Thomas students, meshing all the college communities that the Bruess’s have been a part of throughout their careers onto a series of walls in their new home.

“The majority of the art that you see was created by students or other aspiring artists, mostly women…there’s also a couple pieces that were in my own senior show at St. Norbert,” said Bruess.

For Bruess, using art and interior design is a way to bring communities together. In the main entertainment area, the Bruess’ purposely created multiple sitting areas designed to promote conversation among groups of any size. Even in her own creative sewing and art space, next to a wedding veil she’s making for a former student, there is a table designed for guests to use.

“Entering the Renner House is a very welcoming environment. Carol welcomed us like old friends and really made us feel wanted in their space…the way they host makes them approachable, which I think is so important, especially now that we have a [joint] president,” McGuire said.

When it was completed in 2005, Mary Ann Baenninger, the CSB president at the time, accepted the house as the college’s house, not as her own. Only five months into the presidency, the Bruess’s seek to maintain that same intention. In the future, the Bruess’s plan to host open-house hours for students to enjoy the space, study and hang out with their dog George.

Inspired by Brian’s childhood neighbor who would put a flag out in their flowerpot when local kids could use their backyard pool, the Bruess’s plan on hanging a flag outside of the Renner House to invite students to drop in.