In the heart of Duluth, just a half-mile up the hill from Glensheen Mansion, sits a house unlike any other in the Zenith City. Except it isn't really sitting—it's floating.
“Without hesitating I’d say it’s the most interesting house I’ve ever been involved with listing," says listing agent Jessica Buelow with Edina Realty. "It is the epitome of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—where else are you gonna buy a house on a bridge? Or have the chance to?”
Your chance begins next week, when 3328 E. Superior St. will hit the market for $750,000. (Update, 6/21/24: It's back on the market, this time for $550,000.)
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,452-square-foot home known as the "Erickson House" was built atop a steel bridge frame in 1959... or so the story goes. ("It sure looks like a bridge frame, I think that is accurate," Buelow says.) The place is named after its first owner, she explains, an engineer whose wife's family reportedly came from steel money. "Those two worlds coming together" resulted in the leggy marvel that's still hovering above a .34-acre wooded lot near Congdon Park.
“It’s such a serene setting," Buelow says. "You hear the water rushing underneath the house. It’s really like living in a tree house.”
Inside, the mid-century stunner is "a total time capsule"—original bathrooms, retro carpet featuring "pretty wild colors and patterns," and slate flooring. Anchored by a large brick fireplace, the great room is lined with a wall of windows overlooking the woods, and the owner's suite balcony practically puts you in the treetops. The vintage home is ready to be "restored and polished," the listing notes.
Its next buyer will have a fun project underneath the attached garage.
“When you walk into the house, you can go down a half-flight of steps and in that area is an indoor, underground pool that the current owner has never filled. But it is there!" Buelow says with a chuckle. "There’s two shower rooms down there; the bright-green '70s curtains are still hanging, it’s pretty cool.”
The Erickson House was last purchased for $300,000 in 2005, according to St. Louis County records. Its current owner, the property's third, made sure their investment was on solid footing.
“No, no. It is not going anywhere," Buelow says. "The current owner did have a structural engineer look at it before he purchased it, and it’s A-OK. Built to last!”
(In other quirky, built-to-last Duluth real estate news: Revisit the Flintstones-y dome home.)
Enjoy the following Erickson House photo tour, courtesy of photographer Ben Clasen and Edina Realty. Sadly, interior shots won't be available until sometime next week, Buelow tells us. (Update: They've been posted, just keep scrolling!)
