Do you have an ancestral connection to the Pillsbury family (England, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Minnesota)? If you have a bit of change lying around you might be able to bid for the Pillsbury home on Lake Minnetonka, just west of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It even has a connection to the restoration of Ellis Island.
The estate, Southways, was sold out of the family in 1991. It could be that the 40,000 square foot mansion that sits on 13 acres is not large enough for you. The price has been 53.5 million dollars from the current owner but it has not sold and the next tactic is to sell it via auction. Sealed bids are due by December 9th.
The Ellis Island connection is that the current owners “commissioned New York City-based architects Beyer Blinder Belle, famous for restoring Ellis Island and Grand Central Station” to restore the mansion.
If you are the successful bidder, I am available for luncheon when you move in. According to Google Maps I can be there in 19 minutes and I am familiar with the area. There would be space for a very nice genealogy library and even for some meetings. The closest I have been to the Pillsbury family is buying a bag of their flour and doing some minimal research on them.
To read the full story click here. Photos of the house and grounds are here. Lake Minnetonka is a beautiful area.
© 2009 – 2014, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.
