After cyclist Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France champion, retired from professional racing, he settled in Medina with his wife, Kathy, and their three children.
The couple bought the stately brick Georgian in 1990, the year LeMond won his last Tour de France; he retired four years later.
"We decided it was a good place to raise our kids," said Kathy, who has connections to Minnesota and Wisconsin; her hometown is LaCrosse, she attended Gustavus Adolphus College, and has family in the Twin Cities metro area.
The LeMond family played tennis, biked and walked the trails on their 40-acre country estate, which became a private retreat from Greg's international fame.
Before moving to the Twin Cities, the LeMonds had a home in Belgium. "In Europe, Greg was very popular. We had people who slept in their cars in front of our house and took some of our landscaping as a souvenir," said Kathy. "In Minnesota, people treated us like anyone else."
Their six-bedroom house, by builder Ken Durr, was built in 1988. "We loved the Georgian style," said Kathy. "Greg collects 18th-century American furniture — so it was a good fit for the house."
The LeMonds hosted many charity dinners inside the 11,500-square-foot home — with guests spilling out the spacious living room's French doors onto the bluestone terrace.
Inside, a two-story Italian marble foyer opens to a grand Tara-style staircase leading to a circular balcony on the second floor.
