Home for Sale

Home was built in 1894 by a farmer and his two sons for $1,500; a small fortune in those days.

The property was built for Fred W. Thurston who was a businessman in Anoka at the turn of the century.  He owned Thurston furniture and funeral home,  The home was lived in by his family until he passed.  It was then owned by his son Harlan Thurston until 1954.  It was then sold to Gene and Gladys Karpe who lived in it for a small period of time and then used it as rental property for about 25 years.  In 1980, Steven Larson purchased this property for his photography studio, "Portrait Gallery."  Steve had the financial assistance of his parents and the property was legally in his parents name until they passed.

Steven and his wife retired and in 2023 moved to Bloomington, Minnesota.  The house continued to be occupied by their children until the fall of 2024.  Then, they decided to sell the property to someone who will appreciate its historical and architectural value.  They have been cleaning up the property and repainting the rooms to make it pleasant for the new buyers.

Roof: 3 roofs have been installed during the 45 year period.  The current roof was installed on or about 2010.

Furnace: The original furnace was a gravity coal furnace converted into fuel oil.  In 1980 it was removed and replace with a forced air gas furnace.  It was replaced again around 2005.  In 2024 a new blower motor was installed.

Windows: The current windows were installed around 1984.  The windows are thermal pane and when installed they significantly reduced the heating and energy costs.  The energy cost dropped so much after installation that both the gas company and electric company came out to see what we did to lower the normal energy usage.  There was a large window in the upstairs front bedroom on the North wall; however this was covered over to make the front bedroom a camera room.  The window framework is still there; if desired, the new owner could open up the front window access opening and install a new window.  The front of the second story of the building (lacking the window) was used for signage and a flood light was installed to highlight the signage.

Water and Sewer: This was upgraded to 1" copper water supply and new cast iron sewer pipes on or about 1982 by Larson plumbing (Steve's cousin).  Around the year 2000 the copper water line and sewer pipe was extended to the back of the property for a proposed new garage that was never built.  The copper and sewer lines are stubbed out by the back play house.  The copper line was never connected to water service, but is still stubbed in for future use.  Extended sewer line is ready for use.

Electrical Service: When the home was built, electricity was not common in homes.  When the Larson's bought the home it only had a 60 amp service. This was upgraded to 200 Amp service to the main circuit breaker box in 1981 by Rockden Electric.  Since then 4 sub panels were added to facilitate running new outlets throughout the house without having to run the wire all the way down to the panel. One sub-panel is by down stairs bedroom; one sub-panel by down stairs front storage area; one sub panel in garage; one sub-panel on second floor in hallway. All outlets wired with 12 gauge wire.

Attic: New rafters were installed 2 inches above existing ceiling rafters. 2x8 flooring joists were tied into the load bearing walls and the whole attic insulated with 8" of insulation.  A 3/4 plywood floor was installed on these joists to allow shelving to be used for storage.  In 2020 the attic ceiling was spray insulated to prevent condensation from forming on the nails and dripping on the stored items when sun warmed the roof.  Since then the attic is more temperate.  An attic fan was installed and controlled by either a thermostat or timer.  Good lighting and several outlets were added at the same time the floor was added.

Foundation: Original foundation is a double brick wall down to a frost footing; the East and West foundations were covered with stucco on or about the year 2000.  Back portion was already at full depth to facilitate the furnace and a coal bin.  Owners dug out rest of the basement and installed a retaining wall two feet inside of the existing foundation.  This retaining wall was constructed of 4x4 treated posts every 4 feet apart with treated plywood against the packed soil, ledge was capped off with 3-1/2  inches of cement.  Shelving, 1/2 closets and a tool bench were installed over this 24" ledge to make everything functional and look aesthetically pleasing. A 3-1/2" cement floor was installed in the whole basement.

Basement Bedroom: As large of windows that were possible based upon the frost foundation were installed in the walk-in closet and basement storage area.  Since the frost foundation did not allow for full size egress windows we cannot officially call the "basement bedroom" a useable "bedroom;" although the owners used the room as a bedroom for many years. What the new owners will use the basement "bedroom" for is up to them.

Commercial Signage: The property has a lighted 4' x 8' sign that highlights the name of the business.  The flood lights are controlled by a timer located at the downstairs main circuit breaker panel.  The front of the second story of the building (lacking the window) was used for business signage and a flood light was installed to highlight that signage. Either or both sign lights can be shut on or off and controlled by the automatic timer.

Underground Sprinkler System: The property has an undersground sprinkler system to autoatically water the grass.  This is a TORO system that can be programed and controlled locally or remotely on your phone.

Utility Expenses: The electricity and water costs for 2024 from the city of Anoka were $2,762.  The natural gas costs from Center Point Energy for 2024 were $855.43.  The average utility cost per month was $301.45.  The home was maintained at a constant temperature of 70º both day and night. During the summer we ran the underground sprinkler system every other day to keep the grass green.

Garage Door: A new insulated garage door was installed in the fall of 2024.

Appliances Included in Sale: Stove, refrigerator, upright deep freezer, air compressor, shelving units in garage and basement, forced air furnace, central air conditioning, water heater, water softener, 2 humidifiers attached to furnace, 3 extension ladders for maintenance of house, washer, and dryer.

Items NOT Included in Sale: Ceiling mounted portrait background system in front camera room (front bedroom) will be removed prior to sale; UNLESS the sale is to a photographer, then we can negotiate several photographic items including lighting, backgrounds, props, etc. that new photographer may desire.

Zoning: EM-2 - East Main Street Mixed use.  Most commercial or residential uses allowed that are not high volume traffic uses.  See link to Anoka zoning uses in the legal section of this web site.

Homesteading: The property is NOT currently homesteaded and the tax statement will reflect taxes based upon that classification.  

Anoka County Property ID Number is: 07-31-24-21-0021

Property Taxes for 2024 were: $3,256.72  

Estimated Market value:  Estimated Market Value on the Anoka County 2024 tax statement was $329,600.

Property Listing Price: $495,000. 

Only buyers who have sufficient down payment to qualify should consider this offering.  

Only offers of $495,000 or higher will be considered.