The steam clears slowly. The heated floors are warm beneath your feet. The fireplace in the spa bath is lit, low, steady, the flames visible from the shower and the tub and the dressing area beyond, and through the floor-to-ceiling glass, the trees are doing what ten and a half acres of mature forest do on a quiet morning: standing still, catching light, reminding you that Sunfish Lake exists for exactly this kind of moment. The primary suite at 240 Salem Church Road sits on the main level, oriented by Peter Eskuche to face the deepest, most private section of the lot, and the spa bath—steam shower, heated floors, fireplace, stone, glass—is where the house makes its most intimate argument: that luxury is not about spectacle. It's about ritual. You leave the suite and the house opens. The vaulted great room rises above you, wood beam accents crossing the ceiling in clean, structural lines. The gourmet kitchen connects to a dining area and a full wall of folding glass doors, retracted now, the porch extending the living space into the morning air. Phantom screens keep the insects out. Heaters keep the chill off. And the prep kitchen behind the main space, its pass-through window connecting to the bar and great room, sits ready for the evening when twelve become forty and the invisible infrastructure earns its name. Five bedrooms total. Nine bathrooms. Three junior suites upstairs, each with proportion and light. A guest suite, theater, wet bar, exercise room, and sport court on the walkout lower level. Nor-Son built every joint, every transition, every meeting of wood and glass and stone with the precision that makes the house feel inevitable, as if the architecture grew from the site rather than being placed upon it. Outside, the saltwater pool sits in a clearing, the built-in fire pit at its edge, the mature trees rising on all sides in a canopy so dense the sky feels filtered rather than open. You sit at the fire pit after dark, the pool lit, the forest black, the house glowing through the trees behind you. Sunfish Lake has no commercial development, no storefronts, no noise. It has fewer than five hundred residents, 1.67 square miles of preserved land, and a philosophy that says the trees were here first and should stay. The estate at 240 Salem Church Road was designed with that philosophy in mind, built to honor the land, to frame it, to live within it rather than on top of it. And from the fire pit, with the steam shower still warm in your memory and the city still twenty minutes away, you understand why someone built this house in this forest and never wanted to leave.

Primary Suite — Steam Shower, Heated Floors & Fireside Spa Bath – A main-level retreat with steam shower, heated stone floors, and a fireplace in the spa bath, framed by floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the estate's ten-plus acres of mature forest—the most refined primary experience in Sunfish Lake.

Vaulted Great Room & Folding Glass Walls – A soaring vaulted ceiling with wood beam accents and a full wall of folding glass doors create an open, flowing living space that merges seamlessly with the heated, Phantom-screened porch and the forest beyond.

Peter Eskuche × Nor-Son — Designed for the Land – An acclaimed architect's site-sensitive design meets one of Minnesota's finest builders, creating a 2015 residence where every material, every sightline, and every transition honors the 10.57-acre wooded setting.

Prep Kitchen, Pass-Through Bar & Gourmet Entertaining – A dedicated prep kitchen with additional appliances and a pass-through window to the bar and great room provides invisible back-of-house infrastructure for seamless hosting at any scale.

Saltwater Pool, Fire Pit, Sport Court & Lower-Level Resort – A saltwater pool in a forest clearing, a built-in fire pit, a sport court, a home theater, a wet bar, an exercise room, and a walkout guest suite deliver a complete entertainment and wellness program beneath the tree canopy.

About Sunfish Lake, Minnesota

The Most Private Address in the Twin Cities – Sunfish Lake is a 1.67-square-mile residential city with fewer than 500 residents, zero commercial development, and a preservation-first ethos that makes it the most exclusive and secluded luxury address in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area.

10.57 Acres of Undisturbed Forest – The estate occupies one of the largest private lots in Sunfish Lake, offering a mature hardwood canopy, natural topography, and a sense of seclusion that transforms the daily experience of home into something closer to a private nature preserve.

Downtown Minneapolis & Saint Paul — 20 Minutes – Both Twin Cities downtowns and their combined cultural, culinary, sporting, and professional offerings are accessible in approximately twenty minutes—world-class urban life without the urban footprint.

MSP Airport — 15 Minutes – Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport sits approximately fifteen minutes away, providing nonstop flights to every major domestic market and growing international connectivity—making Sunfish Lake one of the most accessible luxury retreats in the Midwest.

Four-Season Minnesota Living – The regional trail networks, lake access, cross-country ski terrain, and fall color landscapes surrounding Sunfish Lake deliver a four-season outdoor lifestyle rooted in one of the most naturally beautiful settings in the Upper Midwest.