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These people are not real to most of us, I would just love a small house on an acre or two. they would no so understand. They are the ones that don't pay taxes and we have to support the rest of the poor while they live this lifestyle. Makes me sick.
Minnesota is known as the Land of Ten-thousand Lakes, not a thousand. I wasn't able to post using numbers, that why I had to spell it out!
Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
By Mark David of MainStreet
Lakeside luxury
It's a rare person who doesn't enjoy taking a break and relaxing by the water.
While some might take a day trip to an icy river by a canyon, others will rent a beach house on a seashore. Boating enthusiasts will snatch up their fishing poles, load up their coolers and head to one of the thousands of resort and recreational lakes around the country.
Deep-pocketed people with a serious penchant for luxury, however, will snag a multimillion-dollar lakeside mansion where they can lie about and while away the summer in five-star comfort. Of course, five-star comfort costs a pretty penny, as these four lakeside homes reveal.
- Bing Cube: Check out more photos of lakeside homes
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe, tucked into the foothills of the rugged Sierra Nevada range along the border between California and Nevada, boasts some of the most jaw-dropping and expensive real estate on the West Coast. Certainly there are less expensive homes, but for the sultans and tycoons of the world, there's Tranquility, a 210-acre estate above Lake Tahoe with an asking price of $100 million.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Supersized luxury
The estate's behemoth, 38,000-square-foot mansion boasts every luxury imaginable. There's the staircase in the main hall that is an exact replica of the S.S. Titanic's and a great room with two massive fireplaces, parquet floors and a beamed ceiling that soars three stories.
Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Home for all seasons
Lake Tahoe is more than a summertime destination. It's also popular during the cold months, when people flock to the area for the skiing and, of course, après skiing. When it's too cold to swim in the lake, Tranquility offers an indoor swimming-pool complex lit by a skylight.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Buildings galore
Tranquility has a number of other buildings, including guest and staff residences, an art studio, a gymnasium with an indoor basketball court, horse stables and a private lake with a boathouse pavilion.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Unparalleled views
Though Tranquility isn't on Lake Tahoe, its western and sunset views of the lake are unparalleled in their beauty. The opulent estate has been on the market since 2006 at its current asking price of $100 million.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Lake Minnetonka
A person can't toss a stone and not hit a lake in Minnesota, which is why the state is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Just outside Minneapolis, in the upscale community of Wayzata on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, a rambling mansion presides over an impressive 350 feet of water frontage. The asking price: $8.9 million. Lake Minnetonka, one of Minnesota's more popular resort lakes, is also famous for being the one-time home of musician Prince.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Dream kitchen
The nearly 9,700-square-foot mansion has impressive formal living and dining rooms, but the heart of the house is the country kitchen with its glassed-in breakfast area and picture-perfect views. The large kitchen features butcher-block countertops, stainless-steel appliances and two dishwashers for cleaning up after a barbecue party.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Rooms to stretch out
Other rooms include a private paneled office, an exercise room, a 40-foot-long game room on the lower level and a lakeside sun porch with hardwood floors that are painted to look like a green and white checkerboard.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
His-and-hers bathrooms
The mansion has four bedrooms and six bathrooms, including a lake-view master suite with dual bathrooms — hers with a claw-foot tub in front of the windows and his with a frameless glass shower.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Outdoor comfort
A wide lawn extends from the back of the house down to the water's edge. A circular gazebo makes a perfect spot for breakfast or just lounging around as the afternoon slips into evening.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Squam Lake
For those who pine for their "On Golden Pond" moment, there's Indian Portage, a luxurious compound on the scenic shore of New Hampshire's Squam Lake. Some of the Oscar-winning movie was even filmed there. The property is listed at $9.4 million.
- Bing Cube: Check out more photos of lakeside homes
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Three homes in one
The lakeside mansion was built in 2007 after years of planning. The stone and hand-peeled pine main house measures 5,500 square feet over three levels, and has five bedroom suites. There is also a guest house with two bedrooms and a charming one-room cottage with a deck that extends over the water.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Panoramic great room
The dramatic interior includes an entry with a cathedral ceiling and hand-crafted stone walls. An almost 900-square-foot great room with a fieldstone fireplace has a panoramic view of the lake, while the open-plan dining room and gourmet kitchen open to an airy screened porch with mahogany floors.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Places to rest your head
The main house has five bedroom suites. One is on the lower level and two are on the main level. Upstairs are a whimsical children's suite with a treehouse-like loft bed and a master suite with a sumptuous bathroom that has a massive fireplace.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Boathouse possibilities
The private, nearly 25-acre property sits at the end of a quiet cove and has 500 feet of exquisite lake frontage. Detailed plans exist for a two-bay boathouse.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Lake Charlevoix
Perched on a 69-acre parcel on the southern arm of Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan, a log-house-style mansion comes with five bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms for the blistering asking price of $11.99 million.
- Bing Cube: Check out more photos of lakeside homes
- On our blog, 'Listed': Renters live it up in luxury condos that didn't sell
Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Rustic luxury
The interior has a rustic but luxurious feel. In the main living room, be awed by the double-height wood-beamed ceiling, meandering stairways and a massive fieldstone fireplace.
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Pick your path
Charming wood pathways swerve through the trees, leading to the various structures around the sprawling property, including a two-bedroom guest house.
- Bing Cube: Check out more photos of Lake Charlevoix
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
A natural setting
The rustic property offers plenty to please nature and beauty lovers. There are stables, streams, pasturelands, several small ponds and a covered bridge.
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Slide show: Lakeside cabin makeover
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Insanely luxurious lakeside retreats
Lots of lakefront
The property boasts 3,000 feet of lakefront frontage, where a lakeside deck extends past the private sandy beach and leads to an old-school boathouse with striped awnings.
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