May 10, 2017 at 10:09 a.m.
Interior items auctioned; Society site sold
Interior items auctioned; Society site sold
Life looms for the brick house as a commercial enterprise once again.
Historical Society President Neil Gatzow said the offer “came out of the blue.” The circa 1879 residence was not on the real estate market, although Gatzow said its best and highest use was often the topic of discussion at Society Board meetings.
The society had been gifted the structure by Marlene Smith, who also made structure donations to the society in the Victorian house used as the society’s history center on First and Broadway-- and Cheewin lodge, disassembled from its site on Big Green Lake and rebuilt inside the county fair historical society building.
When Smith shutdown her ‘World of Christmas’ a destination holiday shop next door to the Gustaf Anderson House (where Up North Gallery is) the Italiente residence had been used for a gift shop annex.
The story is that Gustaf Anderson was a Swedish immigrant who reportedly made his fortune participating in the gold rush. This “retirement” home on Hwy 8 was just about the grandest house on mainstreet Lindstrom, when Anderson decided to settle in the Chisago Lakes Area.
Society President Gatzow explained that the historical society tried a number of uses for the Gustaf Anderson House and had “mixed success.” Sometimes there would be a public event and it would be well-attended but many times not. The society tried briefly to utilize the site as a B & B but that didn’t really take-off.
The most often heard complaint was that the building, whch housed museum type displays of local interest, was never open, Gatzow added.
Items inside were sold in an on-line auction provided by Twin Pines Auction Service and the successful bidders had to collect their purchases by late afternoon on Friday last week.
Gatzow said the society had accumulated the household and office items; but none of the goods sold in the auction were of any historic significance.
The closing on the residence sale is set for sometime in May. The Press got contact information from city hall and made an effort to reach the future owners but did not connect in time for this story. Watch for details.
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