Scandia Historic Homes Tour 

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A Peek Inside Rural Architecture – Scandia Historic Homes Tour

SCANDIA, MN – Twelve Scandia residents will offer tours of their storied private homes and cabins during Scandia Heritage Alliance’s Historic Homes Tour, October 12, 2024.
Home of the first Swedish settlement in the state of Minnesota, Scandia is rich in history. Tucked into its forests and fields you'll find historic homes from Swedish settler's cabins to brick farmhouses to cozy cottages overlooking local lakes and the St. Croix River. This is not your big-city luxury home tour – it’s a glimpse back in time to a simpler life in rural Minnesota.
"Our Historic Homes Tour is a wonderful chance for both locals and visitors to see how homes built 50 to 150 years ago have translated to the present and are still being lived in today," said Susan Rodsjo, Scandia Heritage Alliance’s board chair. "These homes are not only charming -- they’re important pieces of Minnesota’s history."
The tour includes traditional brick as well as classic wood-clad farmhouses; a remodeled farmhouse and barn overlooking Big Marine Lake; two recently renovated hand-hewn log cabins with dovetail corners built by early Swedish settlers; a river cottage in historic Otisville (an area popular with St. Paul families in the early 20th century); and a 1970s prairie house overlooking the St. Croix River designed by the late Stillwater architect Michael McGuire.
The tour also features two museum properties: the Erickson Log House owned by Washington County Historical Society and the historic log church at Gammelgården Museum. The Gammelgården Butik (gift shop) will be open for the day.
Tickets for the self-drive tour include a picnic lunch. Maps with addresses and home descriptions will be provided at registration, which opens at 9 a.m. at the Scandia Community Center. Gammelgården Museum, which sits just across the street from the Community Center, will open at 9:15 to welcome guests who would like to visit the historic log church and gift shop before the official tour begins at 10 a.m.
The Historic Homes Tour is Scandia Heritage Alliance's annual fall fundraiser. Tickets are on sale through midnight on October 6 and cost $50, which includes lunch. Ticket and silent auction purchases support SHA’s programs to preserve and celebrate Scandia's rich history, culture, arts and rural character. EVENT DETAILS
WHAT: Scandia Historic Homes Tour
WHEN: October 12. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Ticket sales end October 6
WHERE: Scandia, MN
DETAILS: Tour 12 private homes and cabins in Scandia, including hand-hewn log cabins; a river cottage in historic Otisville; and a 1970s prairie house overlooking the St. Croix River. $50 ticket includes lunch. For more information or to buy tickets, visit https://sha.cbo.io