See Photos Of The ‘Poseidon House’ Before It Was The ‘Poseidon House’
St. Cloud's Poseidon House has been well-known throughout the St. Cloud community for decades. Mostly because one of the former owners made expensive renovations to the house, gathering inspiration from areas around the world.
In the front yard stands the famous Poseidon statue, guarding his fortress. Behind him, you'll notice the house's beating heart.
The house seemed very mysterious to local residents and has been the subject of rumors for years. Ann Zur wrote on 103.7 The Loon's Facebook page, "you should let locals tour it ... I'd drop $10 to see it in person".
There are virtual tours available for people to see online. The previous owner who did all of the expensive renovations put the home on the market for $1.2 million in 2017, along with an interesting video tour of the property.
Locals couldn't get enough of the video that's been viewed over 132,000 times since being published.
After several price changes, the house was eventually sold in 2020 to Kourtney Bradford. She made a lowball offer of $495,700 and it was accepted. It was one heck of a deal, but she knew the house desperately needed some renovations in order to make it more family-friendly. I mean, the house has its own cave bathroom with a shower for four.
Bradford thought her house was unique enough to be submitted for HGTV's competition-style show 'Ugliest Houses In America'. The grand-prize--a $150,000 home renovation. Producers agreed with her, the home was 'ugly'. She was accepted to be part of the show.
In June 2021, the show's celebrity host Retta, known for her roles on Parks & Recreation and Good Girls, toured Bradford's home. Her reactions were hilarious and pretty similar to ours.
Poseidon's Fortress did take home the title of 'Ugliest House In The Midwest' but unfortunately didn't take home the title of Ugliest House In America'.
Family members of the original homeowners who built the place in 1958 reached out to Bradford's realtor. They too were hoping the house would get a renovation.
Ronnie Borgert, wife of Mark Borgert, one of the original family members who built the Poseidon House before it was known as the "Poseidon House" is looking forward to the day that the house is restored to its former glory.
In an email, she wrote, "The property is incredible and ... we would enjoy seeing the transformation once again."
Borgert mentioned that her husband has fond memories of skating on the pool in the winter when it would freeze over. The couple reported that they were excited that the house was on HGTV.
Borgert sent over a few photos of what the home looked like back in the day before it was Poseidon's Fortress. And, it's hard to believe but there was a time when the house looked, well, normal.
Check out the photos she sent over below.