A 'little piece of heaven' log home rests in Mantorville

Sep. 11—MANTORVILLE, Minn. — A Lincoln Log decked exterior, a sweeping green lawn and a peaceful pond is what Realtor John Buckingham calls "a little piece of heaven out in the country." That piece rests on 3 acres just 2 miles outside downtown Mantorville.

"It's a beautiful conventional-style built house with log siding. So it looks like a log cabin from the outside but it's conventional frame on the inside so you don't have all those cracked logs and everything else in there," Buckingham described of the home at 60854 225th Ave. "It gives it the benefit of both worlds."

Buckingham describes the "countryside lifestyle" as close to Rochester and within the Kasson-Mantorville School District but also lacking traffic on the dead-end road. With the log siding creating a large wood cabin feel, the home also carries an upstairs loft with four bedrooms. The loft's balcony overlooks the living room's "cathedral-style" ceilings, Buckingham said.

Through the historic streets of downtown Mantorville, one historic log cabin, a "simple log structure," is "believed to be the oldest building in the district," according to the

National Register of Historic Places.

Only one other building, The Hubbell House, was noted as a log structure for a period of three years before being converted to stone. The early 1850s-cabin has its own stone basement and a "full fireplace" in the basement, likely where the kitchen was located, the National Register noted. The district includes 24 structures with "all stylistic developments in architecture."

At the cabin outside of downtown, the resort-side feel of the "personal oasis" includes a hot tub, gazebo and swimming pool with a cabana, according to Buckingham. The home is listed at $999,900.

On the home's porch, the peaceful hums of the property shine in the morning's warm glow and with "beautiful sunsets" in the evening.

"It's got a beautiful front porch where you can enjoy beautiful sunsets," Buckingham said.