Photos via Coldwell Banker Realty
Nestled on 1.7 acres overlooking the St. Croix River Valley, a historic Stillwater home brimming with character that was first listed in June has dropped its price to $1.9 million.
The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom, 6,325-square-foot Victorian at 210 Laurel Street East was built in 1859, and expanded in 1862, by Judge Hollis Murdock, a lawyer who was an incorporator of the Stillwater and St. Paul Railroad Company, served as director of the First National Bank of Stillwater, and was the city’s mayor for a term.
“It being the general consensus of opinion that Washington County has never had a better probate judge,” wrote author Hiram Fairchild Stevens of Murdock in History of the Bench and Bar of Minnesota, published in 1904. “He was ever on the alert to see and work for the best interests of the community in which he lived, his sympathetic nature making him keenly alive to the needs of his fellow men.”
Mildred Houghton Comfort, Murdock’s wife, was prolific in her own right, putting pen to paper and publishing a number of successful books, including the Winter on the Johnny Smoker (1943), Herbert Hoover: Humanitarian (1960), Walt Disney: Master of Fantasy (1968), and the Peter and Nancy travel series.
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Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
The Laurel Street home changed ownership a number of times but most notably served as bed and breakfast joints The Overlook Inn and later the Laurel Street Inn—which had historically themed rooms including the Murdock Room, St. Croix Room, Terrace Room, and Millie's Room. Valley Bookseller then-owners Dan Priebe and Molly Rice purchased the home in 2004, restoring it to a single-family home, thought later Limitless Cycling co-founder Matthew Stepaniak—coincidentally the descendant of Murdock’s neighbor Issac Staples—later converted the home to a VRBO rental in time for Super Bowl LII.
The storybook-style home features a large chef’s kitchen, professional appliances, a sunroom, media room, a spa bathroom with a vanilla onyx stone shower, butternut bookcases, “Stillwater Arch” doorways, imported English fireplaces, a heated driveway, and lovely gardens, according to its listing by Abigail Dean on Coldwell Banker Realty. It’s conveniently located a mile or less away from the Stillwater Lift Bridge, Teddy Bear Park, Candyland, the Washington County Historic Courthouse, Warden’s House Museum, Nelson’s Ice Cream, Lolo American Kitchen, and Leo’s Grill and Malt Shop.
Watch drone footage of the home from when it was listed as a VRBO.
Check out the listing by Abigail Dean for 210 Laurel Street East on Coldwell Banker Realty.
