Jason LangeRE/MAX Results • REALTOR®

St. Croix Valley · Washington County

Bayport, Minnesota

Lakeside Park in Bayport, Minnesota, with a public beach and dock along the St. Croix River

A Small River Town With a Big Employer

Bayport’s roots go back to three separate riverfront settlements, Baytown, Bangor, and Middletown, which merged in 1873 to form South Stillwater. The name changed to Bayport in 1922 after ongoing confusion with the larger, neighboring city of Stillwater. Today, Bayport is best known as the headquarters of the Andersen Corporation, which moved to the city in 1913 and grew into the world’s largest window and patio door manufacturer, remaining the city’s largest employer to this day.

Despite sitting right next to Stillwater, Bayport has kept its own identity, a small, walkable river town with a genuine local feel rather than an extension of its more tourist heavy neighbor.

What Types of Homes Will You Find in Bayport?

Bayport offers a mix of established, walkable neighborhoods and newer conservation focused development.

  • Established homes throughout the city's small, walkable core, many with a classic, older Minnesota river town character
  • Inspiration, a 250 acre conservation community designed by ecologists, with 70 percent of its land preserved as restored prairie, wetland, and woodland
  • River access and marina adjacent living, reflecting Bayport's long history with boating and the Bayport Marina
  • Nearby Miller Farms, just over the city line in Baytown Township, offering large wooded and wetland lots minutes from Bayport

Jason lives in Bayport and has personally sold homes both in Inspiration and in nearby Miller Farms, giving him direct, ongoing, firsthand familiarity with this market rather than secondhand knowledge of it.

Life Along the River

Bayport’s identity is tied closely to the St. Croix River, home to the historic Bayport Boat Yard, which built steamboats and repaired barges through World War II, and today’s Bayport Marina, where residents access the river for boating and fishing. Lakeside Park offers a public beach on the river, a popular local gathering spot in warmer months.

A Bit of Local Character

Bayport has a genuinely local feel, right down to its small downtown restaurant strip. Olio, a well loved Italian bistro known for its handmade pasta and olive oil ice cream, has become a destination in its own right, alongside Not Just a Cafe and Mabel’s Ice Cream Shop. Woody’s Bar & Grill rounds out the strip, known not just for its food but for a hidden, retro eight lane bowling alley inside called Pawnee’s Lanes, a distinctive and well loved piece of Bayport’s character that a visitor would never expect walking in.

Why Homeowners Are Drawn to Bayport

Bayport offers many of the advantages of the St. Croix Valley lifestyle, river access, small town character, and proximity to Stillwater’s downtown and dining, often at a different scale and pace than Stillwater itself.

  • A small, walkable city with a genuine local identity
  • Direct river access and a long boating tradition
  • Part of the well regarded Stillwater Area Public Schools district
  • Nearby access to St. Croix Preparatory Academy, a tuition free public charter school in Stillwater known for its classical education model. My own children have attended St. Croix Prep for the past 15 years, giving me firsthand, ongoing experience with the school well beyond what any ranking can capture.
  • Newer conservation focused development alongside established, older neighborhoods
  • Close proximity to downtown Stillwater without being downtown Stillwater

Client Story

Helping a Homeowner Sell in Inspiration

One of the best ways to understand what it’s like to work with a real estate agent is to hear directly from someone who has been through the process. I recently had the opportunity to help Meghann sell her home here in the Inspiration neighborhood of Bayport. After the sale, she shared the following about her experience.

“Jason was there for me every step of the way. He was always responsive, incredibly knowledgeable, patient with my questions, and thoughtful in the guidance he gave me. More than anything, he is just genuinely kind, and I always felt like he truly cared about me and about making sure I felt comfortable and confident throughout the process.”

Meghann Ovre-Kriesel

Home Seller | Inspiration, Bayport, MN

Google Review

The Next Chapter

Helping Meghann sell her Inspiration home was only one part of the move. We’re now working together to find the right home for what comes next. That’s an important part of how I approach real estate: the sale itself matters, but so does understanding where my client is trying to go next and helping the pieces work together.

Neighborhood Focus

Inspiration: A Neighborhood I Know Firsthand

Inspiration holds a particularly personal place in my Bayport real estate practice because it’s also the neighborhood I call home.

Located in Bayport near Stillwater and the St. Croix Valley, Inspiration offers a different housing experience from many of Bayport’s more established residential areas. As both a resident and a REALTOR®, I have the opportunity to see the neighborhood from two perspectives: what it’s like to live here and what matters when a home here comes to market.

That firsthand experience is especially useful when talking with Inspiration homeowners who are considering selling. Every home and every move is different, so the strategy still needs to be built around the property, the current market and the seller’s goals rather than relying on a generic neighborhood formula.

Local Perspective

I Don’t Just Sell Homes in Bayport. I Live Here.

Bayport isn’t simply one of the communities I serve. It’s home. I live in the Inspiration neighborhood and experience this community the same way my clients and neighbors do.

Living here gives me a firsthand perspective when I’m helping someone buy or sell a Bayport home. I understand how Inspiration differs from established areas of Bayport, how Bayport fits into the broader Stillwater and St. Croix Valley market, and the different considerations buyers may have when comparing homes and neighborhoods in this part of the metro.

For sellers, that local perspective matters, but so does understanding what is happening beyond Bayport. Pricing, presentation, marketing, competing inventory and buyer activity all play a role in how I approach a listing.

And for me, selling a home has never been only about the house. Usually something in life is changing on the other side of the transaction. My job is to help my clients understand their options, build the right plan and move through that transition with confidence.

For more on the surrounding market and the 55082 area, see the Stillwater, Minnesota real estate guide.

Jason Lange, REALTOR with RE/MAX Results, seated outdoors at a local coffee bar

For Sellers

Thinking About Selling a Home in Bayport?

If you’re thinking about selling a home in Bayport, the first step doesn’t need to be deciding when to list or choosing an asking price. It starts with understanding your home, your goals and what the current market is giving us to work with.

I look at recent comparable sales, competing homes, buyer activity, condition, improvements, neighborhood characteristics and how your property is likely to be positioned against the alternatives buyers will see.

From there, we can talk honestly about pricing, preparation, timing and marketing, and whether selling now even makes sense for you.

If you’re also planning to buy another home, we’ll build that into the conversation from the beginning so the sale and purchase aren’t treated as two unrelated decisions.

Schools

School districts serving Bayport, Minnesota

Bayport is served by Stillwater Area Public Schools, District 834, with Andersen Elementary located in the city and older students continuing on to district middle and high schools.

DISTRICT 834

Stillwater Area Public Schools

Andersen Elementary sits in Bayport, with Stillwater Area High School serving the district.

School attendance boundaries change over time and can split a single street. Confirm the current assignment for a specific address directly with the district before making a decision based on it.

Neighborhood Guide

Bayport neighborhoods, and how they differ

Bayport is small, roughly a mile of St. Croix River frontage, which makes its housing easy to describe and its inventory genuinely scarce.

Historic riverfront core
Early twentieth century homes near Barkers Alps Park and the river, many built during the Andersen Corporation era.
Central Bayport
Modest, well kept older homes on smaller lots, one of the more attainable ways into District 834.
Inspiration
A large master planned community with newer single family homes, parks and trails, built at a distinctly different price point than the historic core.
Bluff and river view lots
Limited homes with direct river outlook, which is the scarcest and most competitive product in the city.
North Bayport toward Oak Park Heights
Convenient to Highway 36 and Stillwater services while keeping the smaller town setting.

Market & Price Trends

What moves Bayport home values

In a city this small, a handful of listings can define the market for a season. Scarcity, not volume, is the defining feature of Bayport real estate.

Low inventory

Few homes trade in any given month, so one well prepared listing can capture nearly all of the active buyer attention.

River proximity

Views, walkability to the riverfront and access to the Loop Trail carry a premium that comparable inland homes do not.

Historic versus new

Century old homes near the river and new construction in Inspiration draw two different buyer pools and should never be priced against each other.

District 834 at a lower entry point

Buyers who want the Stillwater district without Stillwater pricing regularly search Bayport first.

With this few transactions, a thin comparable set makes pricing judgment matter more than any published average. Ask for a current Bayport market snapshot and I will pull live MLS numbers for your street rather than a citywide average that may not describe your home at all.

Common Questions

Bayport, Minnesota, Answered

How much is my Bayport home worth?

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There is no single number that applies to every home in Bayport. Value depends on the neighborhood, the age and condition of the home, updates and improvements, lot and setting, and what comparable homes have recently sold for, along with what buyers currently have to choose from. A newer home in Inspiration and an established home closer to the river can behave very differently in the same market. The most useful starting point is a look at recent comparable sales and current competing listings for your specific property rather than a citywide average.

What should I do before selling my Bayport home?

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Start before you fix anything. Some improvements return more than they cost, and some simply delay the sale. Generally, cleaning, decluttering, addressing deferred maintenance and handling anything a buyer or inspector will flag matter more than large remodels. It also helps to understand your timing, where you plan to go next, and what condition competing homes are in, because that shapes how much preparation is actually worth doing.

Is living in Bayport helpful when choosing a local real estate agent?

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It can be. An agent who lives in the community tends to understand how different neighborhoods feel day to day, how Bayport compares to Stillwater and the rest of the St. Croix Valley, and what buyers ask about when they tour homes here. That perspective is useful, but it is not a substitute for pricing skill, marketing and negotiation. The strongest combination is genuine local familiarity plus a clear, market-based strategy for your specific home.

How do I sell my Bayport home and buy another home at the same time?

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Treat them as one plan rather than two separate transactions. That usually means looking at your equity, your financing options, the likely timeline on both sides, and what contingencies or timing tools make sense given current conditions. Sometimes the right answer is selling first, sometimes it is buying first, and sometimes it is coordinating both closings. The right sequence depends on your finances, your risk tolerance and how quickly homes are moving in both markets.

Does selling a home in Inspiration require a different strategy from other parts of Bayport?

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Neighborhood knowledge helps with positioning. Inspiration has a different housing stock, association structure and buyer profile than Bayport's older, established areas, so understanding what a buyer is comparing your home to matters. That said, pricing and marketing should still be built around your individual home and current market conditions rather than a neighborhood formula. Two homes on the same street can warrant different approaches.

How should I choose a REALTOR® to sell my Bayport home?

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Look at experience with homes and situations like yours, real understanding of the local market, and how clearly the agent explains their pricing rationale rather than just quoting a number you want to hear. Ask what the marketing plan actually is, how they handle negotiation and offer review, and how they communicate during the process. Trust matters too, since you will be making significant decisions together over several weeks or months.

Is Bayport, Minnesota the same as Stillwater?

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No. Bayport is a separate, smaller city located about one mile south of Stillwater, though the two share close proximity, the 55082 ZIP code area, and the Stillwater Area Public Schools district.

Why is Bayport called Bayport instead of South Stillwater?

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The city was originally named South Stillwater after forming from three merged settlements in 1873. It was renamed Bayport in 1922 due to ongoing confusion with the neighboring city of Stillwater.

What company is headquartered in Bayport, Minnesota?

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The Andersen Corporation, the world's largest window and patio door manufacturer, is headquartered in Bayport and remains the city's largest employer.

What school district serves Bayport, Minnesota?

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Bayport is served by Stillwater Area Public Schools.

Is St. Croix Preparatory Academy near Bayport?

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Yes. St. Croix Preparatory Academy is a highly ranked, tuition free public charter school located in Stillwater, adjacent to Bayport. It offers a classical education model and has consistently ranked in the top ten percent of Minnesota public schools.

What types of homes are available in Bayport, Minnesota?

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Bayport offers a genuine mix of housing, from riverfront and river view properties along the St. Croix, to established homes in the town's walkable inner core, to newer development in Inspiration, a 250 acre conservation community, and nearby options in Miller Farms just over the city line in Baytown Township.

Is there anything unique to do in Bayport, Minnesota?

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Yes. Bayport's small downtown restaurant strip includes Olio, a well regarded Italian bistro, along with Not Just a Cafe and Mabel's Ice Cream Shop. Woody's Bar & Grill also houses a hidden eight lane bowling alley, and Lakeside Park offers public river access and a beach in warmer months.

Contact

Jason Lange, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Results, serving Bayport

Office

604 Bielenberg Dr. #100
Woodbury, MN 55125

Hours

Monday to Sunday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM

MN License #20457477 · WI License #62499-94

Let’s Talk

Not Sure What Comes Next?

Whether you’re considering downsizing, relocating, helping a parent transition, selling an inherited property, or simply wondering if now is the right time to move, I’m happy to help.

No pressure. No obligation. Just a conversation.

Whether your move is six days, six months, or six years away, I’m happy to be a resource.