Background
Dunnell was born in 1851 in Norway, Maine.
Dunnell was born in 1851 in Norway, Maine.
Dunnell attended the University of Minnesota in 1869 but later transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Initially Dunnell worked for the federal government but he returned to Minnesota in the mid-1870s and found work with several other local architects including Samuel J. Brown and Abraham Radcliffe. In 1881 Dunnell established his own firm in Minneapolis focusing on churches, public buildings and institutional buildings such as schools and hospitals. Dunnell"s buildings included elements of various styles including Romanesque Revival, Beaux Arts and Châteauesque.
Dunnell died in 1931 and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Owatonna.