Linden Hills home with 49-foot waterslide, saltwater hot tub lists for $1.995 million

On a hot summer day, you could head to the waterpark. But if you lived in this hillside home in Linden Hills, with its own 49-foot waterslide, there’d be no need to leave home.

The waterslide took shape when Kari and Julien Kubesh debated what to do with a patch of concrete that previous owners used for overflow parking. They decided to put in a pool. Kari wanted a diving board, Julien a waterslide. They both got their wish.

“It just seemed like a really good place to put a slide with it being on a hill. We had the perfect grade for it,” Julien said. “It’s fast; you definitely get going.”

The Kubeshes say the Minneapolis house, a rare Viennese Secessionist style with curved lines and artful features, has been great for entertaining indoors and out. But now they’re getting ready to move on, so they’ve listed their 5,000-square-foot house on a hill.

“We purchased some acres on a farm in Delano,” Julien said. “I grew up as a country kid, so we’re moving back to the country.”

Listing agent Lindsey Ronning said the house, which was built in 1913 for two artists, feels secluded despite having easy access to the hustle and bustle.

“It’s a secret hideaway fully fenced with a gated driveway. It’s a really special private lot, and it’s a block and a half from downtown Linden Hills,” she said.

When the couple became the fourth owners of the home 14 years ago, it was in rough shape and showed signs of its age.

Ronning said that in addition to enhancing the property with a saltwater hot tub, pool and waterslide, the Kubeshes have “updated everything,” including new electrical, plumbing and mechanicals.

“We worked with an architect who guided the restoration process,” Julien said, noting that artisans were brought in from across the country to replicate custom pieces such as curved wood and steel moldings. They also made upgrades such as installing heated floors on all three levels, replacing windows with high-performance storm windows and adding LED lighting.

“It took two years. We did every inch of plaster, every inch of flooring, every inch of wire, every inch of piping,” Julien said. “We took one wall down in the basement, but other than that we preserved the house in what the architects had originally designed. We wanted to make it timeless.”

After all, it was the timelessness that had drawn the couple to the four-bedroom, four-bath home in the first place. The house is one of two Viennese Secessionist-style homes in Minneapolis that Ronning knows of, she said.

According to coololdbuildingsmn.wordpress.com, the house is referred to as the Robert T. Giles house after the owner, who was a stained-glass artist. Architects John Jager and Carl B. Stravs studied in Vienna and adopted a Vienna Secession style, a version of early modernism, for the home.

“The house was designed to be completely fireproof,” according to the site. “Walls are of reinforced concrete and floors and roof are of terracotta hollow tile. The exterior of the house’s lower level is faced with smooth boulders, probably taken from architect Jager’s property on Minnehaha Creek a few blocks away. Exterior windowsills are blue glazed brick. Inside, there is a spectacular art-glass fireplace.”

The Kubeshes said they especially liked the 36-by-26-foot great room, which they found to be grand, light-filled, yet warm.

“That room is what sold us. It was very rare to have that very large gathering space for residential construction,” Julien said. “It’s a house that really lends itself to gatherings with family, friends and neighbors from winter through summer. We’ve made a lot of memories here.”

Now, as the couple move onto their next chapter, one burning question remains: Will their next house have a pool with a waterslide, too?

“Oh, it has been discussed,” Julien said. “I’ve already started laying out potential areas for where to put a pool.”

Lindsey Ronning (lindseyronning@kw.com; 612-275-5594) of Keller Williams Realty Integrity Edina has the $1.995 million listing.