$5.85M compound on Cross Lake is three luxurious lodge-style homes in one

Ever dreamed of owning your own family compound on a pristine Minnesota lake?

A massive lodge-style retreat originally built for ex-auto mogul Denny Hecker on Cross Lake just hit the market for $5.85 million.

Hecker built his vacation paradise in 2007, two years before he filed for bankruptcy.

The estate includes a 10,766-square-foot main house with six fireplaces, an eight-car garage and a pool, as well as two large adjacent guest houses with their own garages. The three properties are available as a huge single compound or as three separate waterfront homes — $3.5 million for the main house, $1.25 million for a 3,135-square-foot beach house and $1.1 million for the other 2,700-square-foot guest house.

"You can buy the entire thing or a la carte," said real estate agent Sarah Polovitz, Edina Realty. Offering the properties separately makes them "more attainable" for more prospective buyers.

As a whole, the property offers an opportunity to create a "family legacy compound," Polovitz said. The next owner can easily host all the aunts, uncles and cousins, with five bedrooms in the main house, six in one guest house, five in the other, plus a caretaker's quarters above the garage and apartments with kitchenettes that could be used for a nanny or mother-in-law. "It can sleep a crowd," noted Polovitz.

It also can feed a crowd. The kitchens in all three homes feature high-end appliances, including Wolf ranges and SubZero refrigerators, and the main house boasts a hibachi grill in the center island.

The main house was designed for entertaining with a two-story great room, a timber beam cathedral ceiling, a dramatic second-story catwalk and a stone fireplace that opens to the great room on one side and the outdoor patio on the other, for summer gatherings.

"The level of craftsmanship in the main house is very high," said Polovitz, with mountain lodge-style features, custom millwork and walls of windows offering sweeping views of the lake.

There's a theater room "for rainy days at the lake," a billiards room, a gym and multiple bars, including one in the garage. "You can have intimate entertaining spaces, or have the entire family come over," Polovitz said.

All together, the estate includes 5.6 acres of land and 923 feet of level shoreline.

The setting is tranquil. "Across the bay is state-owned land so it's protected and private," Polovitz said.

And as a bonus, the property is on the south side of Cross Lake, meaning a shorter commute — about 2.5 hours — to the "cabin" for Twin Cities dwellers.

The current owner bought the compound in 2010 for $5.4 million from TCF Bank, which acquired it through foreclosure after Hecker was sentenced to prison for fraud.

Sarah Polovitz, 612-743-6801, and Amy Harguth, 218-330-6391, Edina Realty, have the listing. A video tour is available.

Staff writer Lynn Underwood contributed to this report.