Eden Prairie weighs reuse of historic log home as bookstore

A quiet piece of Eden Prairie’s past, one of its last log-built homes, is poised for a vibrant new chapter, potentially transforming into an independent bookstore.

Both the Eden Prairie City Council and the city’s Heritage Preservation Commission took steps this week that will likely lead to improvements for the historic Geisler-Dorenkemper House at Riley Lake Park – improvements allowing the home to be repurposed as a business.

Their hope is that someday it’s as successful as another city-owned house adapted for reuse: Smith Coffee & Cafe, located in the historic Smith-Douglas-More House on Eden Prairie Road.

The Geisler-Dorenkemper House is believed to be one of only four remaining log-built homes in Eden Prairie and the only one not privately owned. According to the Eden Prairie Historical Society, it was built in the mid-1800s, originally along Pioneer Trail in the Settlers Ridge neighborhood, and moved to the Riley-Jacques Farm portion of Riley Lake Park in 2002 to save it from demolition.

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Historians say the home is a testament to 1860s home-building: The Geislers worked together to construct the log home, a two-story, 22-by-26-foot log house on a fieldstone foundation. They chopped down local trees, according to the historical society, and carefully hewed them into square logs with v-notch corners. Thick layers of chinking filled in the large gaps between the logs. Store-bought windows and clapboard siding were installed.

Elements of this construction can still be seen from within the home, which has been modified over time and today is owned and maintained by the City of Eden Prairie. Aside from tours and special events, however, the home is mostly unused, although it is considered to be in good condition.

The city has been working toward reuse of the home for some time. It commissioned a market study in 2022 to see what business uses might make the most sense, and ideas have included an ice cream parlor, coffee shop, restaurant or similar small business. Water and sewer were connected to the house in 2024, at the urging of the city council, and its electrical panel was upgraded to better accommodate reuse.

Now, the city plans to invest more money by constructing a 165-square-foot addition that includes a restroom and space for heat and air-conditioning equipment.

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It is also discussing the home’s possible use as an independent bookstore, locally owned. It has a party that’s interested, but no lease has been signed yet and any opening looks to be spring 2026, at the earliest.

The city council is scheduled to give a final OK to the concept on July 15 and may consider a lease in August, said David Lindahl, the city’s economic development manager. The city currently doesn’t have an estimate of how much the small addition will cost.

Mayor Ron Case says the plan, officially called “adaptive re-use” of the historic home, needs to be looked at as a process, one that starts with making the home usable for business and culminates with finding a tenant that can be successful even though the home’s location is far from any commercial area.

Lindahl says he senses some frustration over the length of time it’s taking to find a user for the home. “But the property has challenges,” he explained. “Because it has a remote location, and parking is limited. I think this prospective tenant was the catalyst for the city to say, ‘Let’s add this bathroom.’”

The larger goal is to recoup at least some of that city investment through lease payments, as has been done with the Smith-Douglas-More House, but also to expose the home’s unique history to as many residents as possible.

Rod Fisher, a member of the Heritage Preservation Commission, noted that there’s risk in any business venture, including an independent bookstore, but says it’s important to be supportive.  

“We’re sounding a little skeptical,” he said during the commission’s Monday evening discussion of a permit for the business. “Every business is murderously hard. I just hope we come out of this with a lot of encouragement.”

Case, too, lauds the attempt to put the home to good use.

“Unless we throw some money into it, it will never be anything more than a mothballed, antique log cabin,” he said.

Speaking more broadly about the historic properties owned by the city, Case added, “The idea is to not have them be a burden to taxpayers, at the same time they are an amenity that taxpayers get to look at, get to use, get to enjoy and experience.”