If you prize your privacy, there's a Twin Cities lake home for sale with soaring walls of glass — but no need for window shades.
That's because the house sits perched on a point on Lake Minnetonka's Enchanted Island.
With 254 feet of sandy shoreline that wraps around the point on the quiet side of the lake, there's no one around to peer inside — except for the deer, foxes, eagles and loons. There's even a sandbar that deters boat traffic.
"It's secluded by land and water," said Paul Johnson, the Lakes Sotheby's agent who has the $1.95 million listing. "You get a feeling of being Up North," he said — without the aggravating, hours-long commute up 35W. "It's a mini vacation out your back door."
Enchanted Island is a true island, linked to the mainland by bridge. Its name comes from the medicine dances and other ceremonies practiced there by Dakota Indians before white settlers arrived. In the late 1800s, Charles Zimmerman, a prominent St. Paul photographer, bought the island and operated a lodge and a fleet of steamers, catering to tourists. The island, part of which belongs to Shorewood and part to Minnetrista, was platted in the early 1900s, and now holds 92 homes, as well as a yacht club marina.
Enchanted Island earned a place in music history in 1971, when a young Bonnie Raitt recorded her debut album in a makeshift studio at an abandoned summer camp. "Enchanted Island — yeah, I remember it like it was yesterday," she told the Current earlier this year. "It was isolated enough that they just let us take it over."
The house on the point was built in 1978 on the Shorewood side of the island. With cedar siding, an open floor plan and clean lines, "It's New England meets Northern Minnesota," said Johnson. Remodeled in 2003-'04, the interiors feature crisp white surfaces and an abundance of light-hued shiplap and other woodwork. "It's like a contemporary white canvas."
There's a wrap-around deck and lake views from virtually every room of the 3.492-square-foot home, which has three bedrooms, including an owners' suite with bath, walk-in closet and lakeside study, as well as four fireplaces and a three-car garage.
And the house comes with its own private beach and pier-like dock with a swimming ladder and boat slips. The water off the point and sandbar is calm and relatively shallow. "No milfoil. No seaweed," said Johnson. "Kid-friendly."
Paul Johnson, 952-212-7103, Lakes Sotheby's International, has the listing.
