Barletta Boat Club Tour 2 Recap - Wayzata Bay, Lake Minnetonka

Barletta Boat Club Tour 2 Recap - Wayzata Bay, Lake Minnetonka

If you’ve ever sailed, boated, or paddled past a vintage boathouse on Lake Minnetonka and wondered what their story is, our Barletta Boat Club events are your opportunity to find out more. Each event is an on-water tour that will consist of roughly 5-10 stops offering an insider's point of view into the history of the enchanting lakeside retreat nestled on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. You may have seen the book Boathouse of Lake Minnetonka and Legendary Homes of Lake Minnetonka, wel use these books as a resource and basis for our tours. 

Lake Minnetonka is a collection of 37 lakes and bays, 42 including other small off-shoots. Most are connected to each other by channels. We will meet our Barletta’s in an appointed bay to start the tour in the evening at 6PM each Tuesday. The tours will last roughly an hour and a half and go until 7:30PM. Each tour is free to join and includes a digital audio recording of the history of the boathouse and a PDF document with interior photos of the stunning boathouse. Afterwards there is an optional social hour at one of the restaurants on the lake. The events will be held twice a month during the months of June, July and August. For more information or to sign up please email curt@wayzatamarine.com

Click Here for the digital audio recording with more in depth information on each stop!

Stop #1 Panoway on Wayzata Bay

Panoway on Wayzata Bay will restore, protect and enhance a treasured asset for our community and broader region: Wayzata’s downtown lakefront. This multi-phase initiative addresses critical infrastructure needs on Lake Street and along the Lake Minnetonka shoreline. It will also strengthen the connection between downtown Wayzata and Lake Minnetonka, creating a unique and welcoming experience for residents and visitors.

Panoway future projects are being planned now through a public-private partnership between the City of Wayzata and Wayzata Conservancy. They will be implemented as funding is secured. They include:

Depot Park

The expanded and remodeled park surrounding the historic Wayzata Depot will feature a new restroom building and expanded gardens. Visitors will enjoy new lawns, decks, and terraces with seating, picnic tables and a community hearth.

Community Docks

Two new community docks will allow more residents and visitors to access Wayzata from Lake Minnetonka.

Boardwalk

A new lakeside boardwalk will stretch approximately 1,500 lineal feet from the Historic Section Foreman House to the Depot. The boardwalk includes two lakeside overlook terraces, creating a beautiful way for the community to connect with the lake.

Shoreline Restoration

The growth of Wayzata and the popularity of the lakefront has taken a toll over the years, impacting water quality, plant and animal life, and the health and wellbeing of Lake Minnetonka. Shoreline restoration projects will reverse the contamination of Wayzata’s holding ponds by reintroducing native plants, trees and pollinator habitat and by restoring 2,000 lineal feet of lake edge.

Section Foreman House 

Situated just a few yards of the lake, this historic home is one of the last of its kind still standing in Minnesota. Built by the Great Northern Railroad in 1902 as a residence for railroad foremen and their families, this historic home will be restored and repurposed into a new lakefront learning center, providing indoor and outdoor classroom and community space.

Eco Park

A new park surrounding the Section Foreman house will restore shoreline marsh and improve water quality. The park includes a pier extension of the boardwalk and opportunities to create “Living Eco-Classrooms” along the lakeshore for STEM based learning.

Stop #2 A Contemporary Boat House

Designed by TEA2 Architects and built by John Kraemer & Sons, the boathouse belongs to a vanishing breed, as Wayzata is currently the only city on Lake Minnetonka that allows new boathouses to be built on the lakeshore. TEA2 Architects used similar forms and materials from the main house to create an organic connection between the two buildings.

Stop #3 A Modern Landmark

The Landmark home, known as BonSyde, was an 1894 Greek Revival mansion with a swimming pool and a boathouse. It was originally designed for the president of North Star Woolen Mills at the time. The boathouse features an expanse of glass opening the views to Wayzata Bay. The renovations are built on the original footprint and crafted of stone with wood & metal accents.

Stop #4 Neumann Boathouse

You'd never guess this property was once an idyllic summer camp for boys called Camp Miniwaste. Now the home of Patricia and Grady Newman, this picturesque corner of Northome originally belonged to Charles Gibson, an attorney from St. Louis who fell in love with MN summers.

Stop #5 The Pagel Boathouse

Situated on Robinson's Bay, the Pagels' red brick boathouse nestles on land that once belonged to the Lindleys, one of the first families to arrive in Maplewoods in the 1860s. According to the lake lore, Grace Carter Lindley was the first person to ever water-ski on the Lake in 1922. The Pagels are known for their involvement in the ice hockey community.

Stop #6 A Fairy Tale Boathouse

The boathouse which took a year to design and build, is nestled against the sloping property and fronted by a curving stone sea wall. Like a cottage from a Scandinavian fairy tale, the boathouse has a Dutch door, wood plank floors, white pained paneling, and a working stone fireplace.

Stop #7 Robinson Bay Lawn Clock

Stop #8 Spirit Knob Point

Currently Minnesota's most expensive home listing on the market at $15.2 Million. The 9,000sq ft, five-bedroom, seven-bathroom property sits on 2.89 acres with 1,700 ft of lakeshore and 360 views of Wayzata Bay.

Photo's and information from 'Boathouses of Lake Minnetonka', book by Karen Melvin and Melinda Nelson