Garrison Keillor appears to be saying goodbye to his St. Paul home.
The creator and longtime host of "A Prairie Home Companion" is selling the large Georgian Revival-style house that he owns on historic Summit Avenue. The property is not yet listed on MLS, but was described as "Coming Soon" and pictured earlier this month on the Facebook page of the Duddingston Group real estate agency, under the Keller Williams brokerage. Private showings are being held, agent Dan Duddingston said Wednesday.
Keillor's house has an asking price of $2.495 million. For that you get 10,207 square feet of living space, including five bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
"It's a beautiful estate with real livable spaces," including a "big open kitchen," said Duddingston. All five bedrooms are on the second floor, with en suite bathrooms. The home has a two-car attached garage, and sits on a half-acre lot.
The house was built in 1919 for lumber baron George Lindsay, who hired a Boston architectural firm to design it. Later, the home was owned by the Weyerhaeusers, another lumber family, for almost half a century.
Keillor, 76, and his wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, bought the house in 2008 for $2.15 million, according to Ramsey County property records. The taxes for 2018 are $41,672.
Keillor retired from his weekly radio show in July 2017. The show continued with musician Chris Thile, Keillor's chosen successor, as host.
The show's name was changed to "Live From Here" late last year after allegations of inappropriate behavior by Keillor toward a female writer on his staff. Keillor said the flirtatious e-mail relationship was mutual. The controversy prompted American Public Media, the parent company of Minnesota Public Radio, to sever its relationship with Keillor. All the material he created, including 43 years of "A Prairie Home Companion" and his daily poetry feature, "The Writer's Almanac," was removed from MPR airwaves and websites.
Keillor and MPR reached a deal last April to restore public access to archived material from both shows. MPR also paid Keillor $275,000.
Keillor, who also owns a home in New York, did not respond to a request for comment on his real estate plans. But he is appearing in two local shows Nov. 3, his first headlining gigs since MPR severed ties with him last November. Both shows are at Crooners Lounge and Supper Club in Fridley, and both are sold out.
Dan Duddingston, 612-221-4398, and David Duddingston, 612-221-5422, of the Duddingston Group have the listing.
Staff writers Neal Justin and Jackie Crosby contributed to this report. Kim Palmer • 612-673-4784