North Oaks home on lake, where 'Miracle On Ice' Olympian learned to skate, lists for $1.88M

Even though her house is surrounded by water , Stacey Everson never had to worry about flooding.

That's because the 1955 home was built on a hill, angled so it looks like the water comes right up to the windows from the living room.

"It is truly its own oasis," she said. "We didn't even have to build a fence for the dog in the back because it couldn't go anywhere beyond the backyard [surrounded by water]."

Looking to downsize from the 5,100-square-foot home, Everson is putting her beloved three-bedroom, four-bath house on the market. Sitting on 2 acres in North Oaks, there's room for extensive gardens, she said.

Plus, the private lake, creek and pond adjacent to the property make it a winter wonderland, one that Olympian Rob McClanahan took advantage of, said Everson's son Jered Everson. The famous hockey player, who was on the gold-medal-winning U.S. men's Olympic hockey team in 1980, learned how to skate there, and to this day, children in the neighborhood continue to play pickup games on the frozen lake during the winter.

"It was exciting and interesting and something I always thought about when I looked out at the pond," said Jered Everson. "Because of that I'm big into college hockey and I'm a big fan of the University of Minnesota Duluth's team."

In North Oaks, the home has an association fee of $1,935 per year that covers access to private lakes, beaches, tennis and pickleball courts and trails, according to Jered Everson.

About 600 acres in the city have been permanently set aside for conservation efforts and will never be developed, according to the home association's website. Another 220 acres are agricultural land with 500 acres of open space available for residents to use.

Massive addition

Before Stacey Everson purchased the house in 2002, she drove up the roads to check it from every angle.

She was struck by the home's elegant features. Wide windows let in ample light that reflected off the blue water outside. On the inside, the high ceilings and open floor plan made entertaining a breeze.

In 2012, she added an addition that was around 1,800 square feet, practically doubling the size of the home. The addition included a family room, a lower level entertainment space with a gaming area and another bedroom with an adjoining bathroom.

She installed beams in the lower level raising the ceiling to 8 feet, and the theater, which had surround sound, was a special place where her son and his friends would hang out.

"I hated when I would go into other basements and the ceilings would be low. So a lot of time and effort went into getting beams constructed so you wouldn't have beams in your way and a low ceiling," Stacey Everson said.

Over the years, she added plenty of luxurious amenities. Two of the bathrooms have huge bathtubs complete with massage jets. By the front door, there are tiles imported from Italy and much of the new addition's floors were built with wood shipped from Brazil.

Private shoreline

The highlight of the home is the 300 feet of private shoreline on Lake Gilfillan, one of the larger lakes in the city.

Over the years, Stacey Everson has spotted bald eagles, golden eagles, osprey and hawks swooping down from the sky to catch fish in the water. There's also a family of otters that the Eversons have seen the past few years.

"We're closer to water because the house was built in the ′50s," she said. "I don't think you could get that close normally. And when I did the addition, because I already had the main part of the house, I was able to put it at the same distance. You're literally looking right at the water."

Jered Everson (612-799-6609, jeredwe1@gmail.com) has the $1,875,900 listing.