Opulent ‘storybook’ mansion in northwestern Minnesota lists at $14M

By the numbers, Carmen and Allen Arvig’s house would be unusual even in the posh ZIP codes around Lake Minnetonka.

Square feet: 14,000. Lot size: just under 6 acres. Bedrooms: six. Fireplaces: six. Sunrooms: two. Wine cellars: two. That’s about 3,500 bottles, plus a tasting room for uncorking them.

Given all that, a $14 million list price makes sense. Except the home isn’t in ritzy Wayzata. It’s in Perham, Minn., a town of about 3,600 people three hours northwest of Minneapolis.

The home’s price is about 40 times the median home value in Perham, an estimated $350,000 to $370,000, according to Zillow and Rocket.

Perham is a vacation destination in Otter Tail County, which has about 1,000 lakes, the most of any Minnesota county. It has a small but lively downtown, bike trails, a 27-hole golf course and a recently renovated community center, said City Manager Jon Smith. It’s also a manufacturing hub, with “more jobs than people,“ he said.

“We like to say we’re a small town with the amenities of a city of 25,000 to 50,000,” Smith said.

Even in a larger community, the Arvigs' house would stand out, but it’s highly unusual in Perham.

“With the lake properties around the Perham area, it’s not uncommon to see $2 [million] or $3 million houses,” Smith said. “But when you get into the tens of millions, they’d need to be pretty massive.”

The Arvigs’ home certainly is, but that’s not the only way to measure the opulence of what Carmen Arvig called the couple’s “dream home.” Built in 2005 after years of planning with inspiration from their travels in Europe, the home is part of a local family legacy. Allen Arvig is president and CEO of Arvig, a telecommunications company his parents founded and headquartered in Perham.

The couple recently decided to sell the home after Allen, 84, had a couple of strokes.

“It’s just too much house for us now,” said Carmen, who is 70.

The home’s palatial architecture and elaborate interior design — arched doors and windows, hand-carved wood, stained-glass art, blown glass, European chandeliers, Venetian plaster, tooled leather and more — give it a “storybook” look, per architect David Heide.

Heide, founder of St. Paul-based David Heide Design Studio, worked on the project and said storybook homes like it were popular in the 1920s and ’30s among homeowners seeking something more exotic than American foursquares and colonials.

These days, sleek modern minimalism is fashionable. But Carmen Arvig isn’t interested.

“I’m a person who knows what I like,“ she said. ”I will never redo anything in my home. I liked it in 2005, I like it today, and if it takes me 20 years to sell it, I will like it in 20 years.”

Décor throughout the house showcases the work of mostly Minnesota-based artisans.

“There isn’t a piece of cabinetry, including the basement and garage, that isn’t handmade,“ Arvig said. “The idea that you have to go overseas or to California to get skilled craftsmen is a fallacy.”

Many of the main-level ceilings are coffered or otherwise elaborately patterned wood. In the living room, small pendant lights in blown glass hang from the ceiling.

“At night, there’s just like these illuminated art-glass stars,” Heide said.

The hand-painted and hand-carved built-in cabinetry holds the Arvigs’ collections of dolls, marionettes, ceramic figurines. The door to one of the bedrooms has carved angels. The door of the main wine cellar features a carving of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine.

The main level living room has two-story windows showcasing views of Little Pine Lake as well as glass doors leading to a balcony overlooking the property’s 350 feet of shoreline.

“When you walk in the front door, you can see right straight through the family room to a full view of the lake,” Arvig said. “I tried to take advantage of every opportunity to see the lake.”

The main-level kitchen has a walk-in butler’s pantry, high-end appliances and backsplash inspired by a tapestry she bought in France.

“I spent a lot of money on my kitchen, and I spend a lot of time there,” said Arvig, whose father was a chef and restaurateur.

The dining room is large enough for several tables. The flooring, as in other parts of the main floor, has heated terra-cotta tiles. Above the buffet is a backlit stained-glass depiction of an older couple praying at the table before a meal.

The wood-paneled library has a carved-wood fireplace and an arched bay window with windows seats.

“It’s just real elegant and real quiet and cozy,” Arvig said.

Two bedrooms are on the main level, including the primary bedroom, which has a big sitting area, a large walk-in closet and a huge, accessible bathroom. Four more bedrooms are on the second level, including one large enough to serve as a primary suite if desired, Arvig said. There is an adjoining nursery with a bed, space for a crib and a changing table.

In the basement, one wine cellar holds around 3,000 bottles, Arvig said. But Allen’s wine collection is bigger than that, so a second wine cellar holds 500 or so.

The wine cellars have “vaulted ceilings like you see in medieval catacombs, faux finished to look like stone,” Carmen said. Stones salvaged from the streets of St. Paul make up the floor. There’s a tasting room where the couple go to enjoy a glass.

Also on that level is a family room, kitchen, billiards room, screened patio, craft room and a life-size playhouse the Arvigs built for their grandchildren, with space for adults to join a tea party.

Even the grounds maintain the storybook look, with stone driveways and walls as well as iron gates.

“It makes the house look very European from the outside,” Arvig said.

Despite all of this extravagant luxury, the property’s Zillow listing highlights the detached garage as a noteworthy feature. It holds 20 cars in addition to the attached three-car garage.

“My husband likes to collect cars,“ Arvig said. ”He has half of it, and I have the other half for my antiques and junk.”

Above the larger garage is a space with heat, air conditioning and plumbing that “could be made into living quarters if somebody wanted to have live-in help,” she said.

The Arvigs entertain a lot, hosting gatherings of up to 100 people. The home’s immense size and grand décor can sometimes intimidate visitors, but Arvig said the home feels warm and welcoming once a guest comes inside.

“It’s not only a beautiful home, but a very functional, homey home,” she said. “It’s not intimidating.”

Beau Flom (beau@fpghomes.com 701-799-4899) has the $14 million listing.