Cannon Falls, Minn. cave house: Inside the unusual property up for sale
CANNON FALLS, Minn. - A split-level home in the middle of Cannon Falls boasts four bedrooms, two baths, and new carpets and floors. But it also has a bonus feature that most house hunters won't find anywhere else.
"You don't see many caves. This is the first house I've listed with a cave in it," said realtor Dan Linder with EXP Realty.
In the hill a few feet behind the house, there's a short tunnel that turns into a 15-by-15-foot room with a 10-foot-high ceiling. Linder believes the cave is at least partially manmade and was there before the house was built in 1977.
"There's speculation it could be for a brewery or for bootlegging. Could be for a bomb shelter type of thing, but there is no history to tell me what it was originally built for," said Linder.
In addition to more recent carvings, Linder says the cave has little white marks on the walls that could be embedded fossils from when the sandstone was formed. He also says the current owners used the literal "man cave" to watch movies and have sleepovers because it stays a cool 68 degrees year-round.
"They have movie nights there. They had a projector screen, and they would come in the middle of winter with just a sweatshirt, and they would watch a movie out there. Their kids' parties were back there. Just kind of a nice way that on a hot day, a cool place to cool off," said Linder.
The house went on the market last week, and Linder believes its extra amenity will be a selling point for whoever buys it.
Like it was for the current owners, who've made the most of the subterranean hangout just outside their back door.
"Who can say they can buy their own house and there's a cave that is safe, and you don't have to worry about what's at the end or what is going to come out at you," said Linder.