Late businessman Irwin Jacobs' lakeshore estate in Orono is back on the market for $11.995 million.
Irwin Jacobs' Orono mansion back on the market for $12 million
The 20-acre estate on Shoreline Drive is the third most expensive single-family home in Minnesota currently listed on the MLS.
June 20, 2019 at 11:08PM
The price — and circumstances — are dramatically different from when the property was listed for $22 million in 2014.
On April 10, Jacobs and his wife, Alexandra, were found dead inside the home. The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled the deaths a murder-suicide. The couple, both age 77, had been married for 57 years.
The Jacobs' hilltop residence is described as "the most extraordinary and long-admired estate on Lake Minnetonka" on the Coldwell Banker Burnet real estate site.
However, only aerial shots of the 20-acre property, which is surrounded by 705 feet of prime lakeshore on Smith's Bay and 200 feet on Tanager Lake, are featured in the listing.
"We're focusing on the valuable amount of land on Lake Minnetonka. That's what makes it unique," said Michael Steadman, one of the listing agents for Coldwell Banker Burnet. "It's up to the buyer how they want to use the property."
The 13,000-square-foot house include six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and eight fireplaces.
The estate, called Tanager Hill, was built in 1939 by Charles Bell, the son of James Ford Bell, founder of General Mills.
The Jacobses bought the Georgian Colonial-style white brick house in 1972 for $340,000. Over the years, they built several additions, including a family room with floors of reclaimed marble from the demolished Federal Reserve Bank Building.
The couple also converted a greenhouse into a glass-ceilinged solarium. The family has hosted four weddings on the vast grounds.
In 2014, Jacobs acknowledged that the valuable land was ripe for a new housing development. In fact, after he took the home off the market, he sold a part of the 32-acre property for building lots.
The prominent Twin Cities entrepreneur made a fortune as a corporate raider who bought and liquidated failing companies at a profit. During his career, Jacobs owned boatmaker Genmar, a piece of the Minnesota Vikings, J.R. Watkins Co. and in the 1970s, the Grain Belt beer company and brewery.
Jacobs "had an amazing ability to see the value in companies in ways that others could not," according to his obituary.
The Jacobs estate on Shoreline Drive is the third most expensive single-family home in Minnesota currently listed on the MLS.
Amenities include a heated swimming pool, tennis court, six-car garage and 3,500-square-foot guest house. The property taxes are $85,590.
Several home watch businesses joined together in the Minnesota Home Watch Collaborative to stay vigilant across the whole state.
