Home inspection in Orono.

What we see in Orono homes.

Orono is the largest municipality by area on Lake Minnetonka, at 23.98 square miles, of which 8.07 are water. It began as part of Excelsior Township, became its own town in 1889, and was incorporated as a city in 1955. The 2020 census counted 8,315 people and 3,429 housing units. Lake Minnetonka has 125 miles of shoreline, and by the early 1900s wealthy families began building permanent estates along it. Today the city is largely residential, with custom homes on large wooded lakeshore lots and rolling till uplands, and U.S. Highway 12 crossing it.

Custom houses on the water get a different inspection than tract homes. Shoreline retaining walls, grading and drainage toward the lake, sump pumps, and any signs of past seepage in walkout lower levels are the points that matter. Large homes have complicated rooflines, many flashings, multiple furnaces or air handlers, and often radiant heat, so we spend more time on roofs, mechanical systems, and moisture. Long driveways, trees, and additions from different owners add more to check. If a property is on a private well and septic, arrange that testing separately.

Local facts checked September 2026 against: Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Minnesota Department of Health.