Dean Hilgers first became fascinated with the Waconia property when growing up in that town. He remembers seeing it on his newspaper route at age 10, and stopping his bike to gaze at the land. A few ...
Rubble and ruin were all that remained of the early-19th-century Villa Frere and its gardens, planted by the English diplomat John Hookham Frere, until a group of dedicated volunteers came to its ...