Open Today 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Dramatic Contemporary Near Cedar Lake

Where: 2812 Sunset Blvd.
What: 4 BR/4Bath Contemporary (built 1981) with almost 4,200 (!) finished square feet just down the street from Cedar Lake; minutes to downtown and uptown
How much: $525k
When: noon to 1:30 p.m.
Who: listed by Ross Kaplan, Edina Realty City Lakes

Please stop by my open house later today at 2812 Sunset Boulevard.

The soaring vaulted ceilings and custom, over-sized windows (pictured above) are just a few of this home's many nice features.

Other highlights includes the home office with built-in's overlooking the Living Room (in foreground in the photo above); the private Owner's Suite with a vaulted ceiling, fireplace, balcony, and walk-in closet; the huge lower level -- perfect for teenage kids or guests; and the terrific location, close to everything.

You won't find a better value near the lakes than this!

Raising the Roof on Dean Blvd.

From Rambler to . . . Rockin'

No, they didn't throw an over-the-top party the other night on Dean Blvd.

The owner literally raised the roof.

Instead of the dowdy 1955 rambler (pictured above) that sat there for more than half a century, there is now a sleek Contemporary -- atop the original home's huge (1,752 sq. ft), fortress-like foundation (I was impressed by how good the bones were when I showed it).

It also redeems the purchase price: $600k last summer, which I thought was high at the time.

"Two's Company" Overlooking Mpls' Cedar Lake

There is a joke among musicians that if you hit a wrong note once, then shame on you, but if you hit it twice then you’re playing Jazz.

As the parent of a 9 year-old boy, I've observed how one (slightly) nerdy kid can be a lonely island, but two is suddenly . . . a club! (It's funny how in the Realtor business, two Realtors -- or sometimes just one Realtor and their cat -- automatically become a "group" or "team").

So, too, one distinctive home in a high profile location can stick out like a sore thumb. But two can play off each other and look . . . cool.

A great example of that is the two home "combination" at 26th and Huntington, overlooking Minneapolis' Cedar Lake.

After sitting twenty years as an empty lot (the previous home burned down in the mid-'80's), a developer bought the land about five years ago and promptly subdivided it into 3 parcels.

The first of what were to have been three homes, 2545 Huntington (pictured on the left in the photo above) broke ground in 2005, close to the peak of the housing market. After almost two years on the market, it finally sold for $2.1M -- surprisingly close to the original asking price of $2.2M.

Due to its unique, contemporary look, the home has inspired a wide range of comments, mostly negative. I've heard people call it a post office, an office building, "vaguely institutional" -- or simply throw up their hands trying to describe it.

For what you'd guess were economic reasons, the developer scrapped its plan to build two more homes. Instead, it is now finishing a second building, very much like the first, alongside it (it's on the right in the picture above).

So will it fetch anywhere close to the $2.1 million that its architectural sibling did?

We'll never know: the buyer is the owner of the first house. Apparently, he intends to use it as a pool/guest house (the pool is in between the two).