Before Pachyderm Studio took root in Cannon Falls, the property was home to the Mensing family. The Mensings' connection to Cannon Falls spans generations and has impacted the town through music and malting.

Donald Mensing's father built a malting plant in Cannon Falls in 1939, and Don and his wife Marian relocated to the town to help with the business. "They gave themselves a three-to-five-year attempt at staying there, and it ended up being a lifetime for them," Don's son, Dick Mensing, told The Current Rewind producer Cecilia Johnson.

"I can remember one Christmas," continued Dick. "All of us six kids were supposed to write down what we expected to be when we started working, or what was our goal in our lifetime. And both my brother and I had put down President of Minnesota Malting Co." Dick did continue in his father's footsteps, running the malting company until it filed bankruptcy and closed in 2003.

In addition to running the Minnesota Malting Company, Don Mensing was also a musician. "He played violin, and when he was a youngster playing the violin he would actually walk to Hastings or to Hampton to teach other students how to play the violin," said Dick, pointing out that the walk to Hastings was at least three to four hours long.

Don and Marian had six children, and the family built a house in Cannon Falls designed by architect Herb Bloomberg. Bloomberg filled the house with unique architectural features, such as pine tree balusters, a swimming pool, and the fireplace that Barbara Mensing would decorate with ivy each Christmas.

Mensing family portraits show a number of the family's members posing in front of the fireplace, the same spot where members of Nirvana would sit years later. "This is the fireplace that Nirvana sat on with little Frances Bean when they were recording their album there," remarked Dick's daughter Karen, while pointing to one of the family's photographs.

A photo from 1967 shows Marian Mensing smiling in the snow-covered driveway of her family's house. "That's her mink coat and mink hat," said Karen. "She always wore gloves." In one word, Martha described her mother-in-law Marian Mensing as "elegant." "She had a lot of charm and proper etiquette. The first time I ever ate a meal at the house there was a silver candelabra on the table. It was lit and it was beautiful, and place settings all proper. That's how she was."

Every year, the Mensing family would gather in the home to celebrate Christmas. "All of us six kids would be back with our spouses and any other next generations," said Dick, recalling that years before the studio's construction, the Mensings filled their home with music. "We also had a lot of piano, organ and violin playing on Christmas Eve," Dick continued. "They had a baby grand piano downstairs in the great room and a Hammond organ, and most of my sisters played the piano, and my mother's mother played the piano, and Dad the violin, of course. It was beautiful."

After Don and Marian's passing, their children sold the home to Jim Nickel, who began building Pachyderm Studio on the property in 1988. Dick pointed out that while many believe that the studio was built in the Mensing's home, it is actually a separate structure. "It's 100 feet away from [the house]," he said. "Just driving in in the driveway and going to the front door, you would never see the studio. It's tucked in behind the trees and under a hill."

When musicians record at Pachyderm, they stay in the house that used to belong to the Mensings. While the house has undergone renovations since the Mensing family lived in it, many original touches still remain, allowing artists to see glimpses of the family history that lies behind Pachyderm Studio.

This story is a bonus feature of The Current Rewind, a brand-new podcast putting music's unsung stories on the map.