We know selling a multimillion-dollar home is fraught with peril. Buyers with buckets of money to spend aren't prone to feeling pressured. And if they don't build their own custom palace, those high-net-worth buyers must be persuaded (and cajoled) to buy into someone else's vision.
What we're saying is that it can take time -- lots of time.
In the case of the most expensive home in Minnesota, it's been on the market for over eight years. Which is a loooooong time. When the house hit the market in September 2007 for $53.5 million, George W. Bush was still our president. Apple unveiled its first iPhone!
Since then, the historic mansion known as Southways has had its price sliced to a more palatable $24 million. However, it still awaits a buyer willing to bite.
The 32,000-square-foot home sits on 13 acres of prime lakefront land along Lake Minnetonka. Built in 1918, it was the summer family home of John S. Pillsbury Sr. and remained in the Pillsbury family until 1992. And if that name causes you to fantasize about flaky crescent rolls, you're not alone.
In 1992, the seven-bedroom mansion was purchased for $5 million by investor Jim Jundt, who embarked on a four-year restoration project to both update and upgrade the property.
Jundt added a three-room, 6,000-bottle wine cellar; combined bedrooms to create a master suite with dual dressing rooms; and made many behind-the-scenes changes to bring the home up to 21st-century standards.
Befitting a mansion of this delicious pedigree are plenty of other luxe features, including a separate carriage house, a pool and pool house, a tennis court, a spa, and a caretaker's apartment.
After spending millions renovating and upgrading the home, Jundt looked to sell in 2007. Unsuccessful in finding a buyer, he tried auctioning off the home in 2009 and then cut the price to its current figure of $24 million in 2013.
We doubt it'll take another eight years to find a buyer for this piece of delicious Minnesota history, but it depends on when a wealthy buyer's desires lead him or her to the land of 10,000 lakes.