Linden Hills has no shortage of high-end new-build homes. But the local developer behind 4529 Chowen Ave. S says his is different.

“The Modern Scandi” is a five-bed, four-bath, 4,210 square foot single-family house on an oversized lot a few blocks from the neighborhood’s shopping district, at 43rd Street and Upton Avenue. It was one of six “dream homes” on this spring’s Twin Cities Parade of Homes. And for a cool $1.795 million — or best offer — it could be yours.

The Modern Scandi is the one of the first modern-style “spec builds” undertaken by GroundUp Development and its construction partner EHR Construction, GroundUp owner Tim Murphy said. A spec build is a new house built without a specific buyer in mind.

It’s a bit of a risk in the high-end housing market, where tastes tend conservative, but Murphy thinks its time is approaching.

“This is where the trend is going in Minnesota, but we’re not totally there yet,” he said.

If the Modern Scandi stands out from neighboring houses, blame (or thank) the two-tone steel and wood siding that Murphy sank nearly $100,000 into.It’s distinctive enough that supplier James Hardie might feature the house in its magazine, Murphy said.

Inside, the professionally designed low-voltage audio-visual wiring system — there to support high-quality surround-sound systems, interior and exterior cameras, smart LED lighting and other “fun tech” — is “a hidden secret,” Murphy said. The house also has high-bandwidth cables that minimize lag, a must for serious gamers.

For discerning buyers accustomed to more spacious suburban homes, the 33-foot-wide Modern Scandi’s efficient floor plan is a standout feature. Multiple Parade of Homes visitors “forgot they were in the city” once inside, “which is a huge compliment,” Murphy said.

“One guy told me he was going to steal the floor plan for a house he’s building on a narrow lakefront lot,” he said.

At about 45 feet wide, the Modern Scandi lot is “a few feet narrower than we’d like,” Murphy said. The City denied initial plans for an attached two-car garage, forcing the development team to pivot to a detached structure behind the main house. That “wasn’t ideal” because it reduced the size of the backyard. The small size was a common critique from suburban Parade of Homes visitors, Murphy said.

By Linden Hill standards, the Modern Scandi’s backyard is still quite spacious, and the new 4,210 square-foot house is a vast improvement over the tiny, century-old house torn down to make way for it. That house was just 600 square feet, give or take, and had a shaky mud and rock foundation much shallower than modern Minneapolis basements.

“It’s an honor to take a property like that, which isn’t livable in my opinion, and develop it in the direction Southwest Minneapolis is going,” Murphy said.