The economy is in the tank, but that didn't stop a home on Lake of the Isles from selling this week for an eye-popping $4.859 million, apparently making it the highest-priced house ever sold in Minneapolis.
And even at that price, there must have been some serious negotiating. The Spanish Mediterranean-style home went on the market with Sotheby's International Realty in February for $5.495 million.
Ironically enough, the home held the city's previous record when Tom and Angie Wicka bought it in 2004 for $4 million. Word is that the couple is building a home in Edina.
Only one thing is known about the buyer: It's not Brett Favre.
The house is so distinct it's a point of reference on the lake. It's a gated estate on the corner of W. 25th Street and E. Lake of the Isles Parkway, with regal white columns framing a curved rooftop terrace that's covered by a sunburst pergola.
The home was featured as a Star Tribune "You can have it for ..." this spring. Designed by architect Frederick Soper for a wealthy merchant, it cost $10,400 to build in 1911. Over the years, one owner converted the 15-room mansion into three apartments. Local developer Elizabeth Hyatt, who refurbishes historic homes, bought it for $465,000 in 1988 and restored it to a single-family home. The Wickas bought the home in 2004 from Edward Bazinet, founder of the Dept. 56 giftware company.
They updated and redecorated the 7,750-square-foot home, refinishing and painting almost every surface.
While $4.859 million is a bundle to pay for a house, it's slight in comparison with the all-time highest price in the Twin Cities area: $17.5 million in 2006 in Wayzata for a property on Lake Minnetonka. And in St. Paul? The record is $2.15 million in 2007. The prices are from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors, which does not release specific addresses for those homes.
