Garrison Keillor lists St. Paul home for sale

Published 7:59 am Thursday, September 20, 2018

By Marianne Combs

MPR News/90.1 FM

Garrison Keillor, longtime host of A Prairie Home Companion, is selling his St. Paul home, according to a private real estate listing.

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The house, a 10,000 square foot Georgian Revival on St. Paul’s Summit Avenue, is being sold by David and Dan Duddingston, real estate agents who are also known for their active participation in DFL politics and fundraising.

The house is not yet listed on MLS, a clearinghouse for real estate listings. But David Duddingston said they are showing the house to serious interested buyers. The Duddingstons posted a description of the house on their Facebook page in September, with an asking price of $2.495 million.

The house was built in 1919. Keillor bought it in 2008. He also owns a home in New York.

Keillor, creator and host of A Prairie Home Companion, retired from the weekly variety show in 2016. The show continued under the leadership of Keillor’s hand-picked successor, musician Chris Thile.

In late 2017, allegations of inappropriate behavior led American Public Media, the parent company of Minnesota Public Radio, to sever contracts with Keillor and his companies. The show’s name was changed to Live from Here with Chris Thile, and material created by Keillor — including his daily poetry feature, The Writer’s Almanac — was removed from MPR airwaves and websites.

After a series of negotiations, Keillor and MPR reached a deal last April to return some archived material to the web. MPR paid Keillor $275,000, and the two sides agreed not to sue each other.

After the story of his alleged behavior broke last November, he mused in Facebook posts that he might have to move away. Keillor did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment on his plans.