Ellen Ruby Blog's: Minnesota’s Most Expensive Home Is a $15M Mansion on a Private Island

Friday 18 June 2021

Minnesota’s Most Expensive Home Is a $15M Mansion on a Private Island

A magnificent Minnesota mansion surrounded by water is the state’s most expensive listing. Listed for $15 million, the enormous residence sits alone on a 1.37-acre spit of land that juts out into St. Alban’s Bay.

Known as Windermere, the estate in Greenwood, MN, offers water views from almost every vantage point and is on the market for the first time as a completed estate.

Access to the 13,949-square-foot home is over a private bridge. Once on the island, visitors wind up in a large motor court, while the owners can make their way through a tunnel and directly into an eight-car garage that features an automatic car wash.

Aerial view of mansion in Greenwood, MN
Realtor.com

A color palette heavy on black, white, and gold gives the interior the vibe of a high-end nightclub. But the space itself is far from dark and foreboding—thanks to an enormous glass-enclosed atrium, which floods the space with natural light.

In addition to the enormous atrium, the entryway features several dramatic staircases and balconies overhead.

A large glass elevator, designed to shuttle guests between the home’s four levels, is located next to a grand spiral staircase.

A huge kitchen, with two large islands, is a vision in white, with twinkling chandeliers hanging overhead. An adjacent dining area features bold geometric wallpaper and space to host a crowd.

The home’s five bedrooms are all uniformly huge and hew to the home’s black-and-white color palette. The master bathroom has intricately patterned tile flooring, and a large soaker tub sits in the middle of the space. A boutiquelike master closet space offers ample room to display an entire wardrobe and any opulent accessories on hand.

When it’s time to relax, you can try out the 12-person movie theater with a lounge in the back, a card room, and the wine room.

An indoor grotto area is another perfect place to unwind. Next to the indoor soaking area is a spalike facility with a sauna and locker room.

Out back, there’s a huge, heated infinity-edge pool next to the domed poolhouse. A boat slip provides access to all types of water sports.

Completion of the grand mansion was almost two decades in the making.

The disgraced former water park and hotel developer Jeffrey Wirth owned the land and began construction in 2003.

Construction came to a halt in 2006, and the project sat partially finished for years, as weeds and neglect overtook the property.

Wirth pleaded guilty in a conspiracy to commit tax fraud in May 2012. He was sentenced to 53 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $6.45 million in restitution.

According to published reports, prosecutors called his case one of the largest tax fraud conspiracies in Minnesota history.

The restaurant owner Kam Talebi bought the property in 2013, for what public records say was just more than a million dollars, and set out to finish building what Wirth started.

Jessica Prudden with Prudden & Company is the listing agent. The listing simply calls the estate “magical.”