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In the 1920s, Minneapolis real estate developer Samuel Thorpe spent $1 million to turn a stretch of farmland into home sites in Edina's Country Club neighborhood. Today, some of the homes built on that land are on the market for more than $1 million.

Prospective buyers will get a chance to tour these homes at a mass open house event from 1 to 4 p.m. today. The 20 Country Club homes that are for sale range from a 1940s New England Colonial ($599,000) to a remodeled 1930s Tudor (nearly $2 million).

"The tour is to get people reacquainted with this historic neighborhood," said John Everett, an Edina Realty agent who is among a group of local real estate agents holding the open houses. Sellers also want to attract people to the area so they can see the repaved streets and new curbs and lighting put in by the city of Edina. "It's been dug up for two years and it was hard to get around," Everett said.

The upscale Country Club neighborhood, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is bordered by Minnehaha Creek on the west, W. 50th Street on the south, Arden Avenue on the east and Sunnyside Road on the north. The stately homes along elm-lined streets represent a variety of architectural styles, including French provincial, Mediterranean and Italian renaissance revival.

For addresses and descriptions, go to www.edina realty.com and click on "Open House."

LYNN UNDERWOOD