After World War II, the population of Richfield, Minn., soared, growing by more than 363% in the 1950s and 143% in the 1960s. This inner-ring suburb, situated just west of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, is an exemplar of the postwar boom, when returning veterans were able to buy affordable homes thanks to the new VA home loan guaranty. But families have been setting down roots in Richfield for roughly 170 years.
Literally, an Expanse of Rich Fields
Geographically, Richfield was once a sprawling place: “The original boundaries took in much of what is currently downtown Minneapolis, extending west to Lake Minnetonka and south and east to the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers,” according to the Richfield Comprehensive Plan. “A series of annexations by Minneapolis eventually reduced Richfield to its present seven square miles.
”Early residents of Richfield were drawn to the tallgrass-prairie soil—so rich that it inspired the town’s name. It was an ideal location for growing corn and wheat. “This area was all farmland,” says Robin Johnson, president of the board of the Richfield Historical Society. “It was fields and fields … of corn, oats and wheat. … It was farmland as far as the eye could see.”
One of those early settlers was Riley Bartholomew, a former general in the Ohio militia. In 1852, he built a two-story home in the area that has since been restored and transformed into a museum, Bartholomew House. In 1858, Bartholomew and his fellow residents formed a local government, though the city wasn’t incorporated until 1908.
In the 20th century, the town was transformed from a quiet farming community into a bustling suburb. As in metropolitan areas around the country, Richfield’s growth was accelerated by the GI Bill (the 1944 Servicemen's Readjustment Act), which offered returning service members (among other benefits) a federal guaranty on low-cost home loans with no money down.
“Soldiers came home … and it was the land of opportunity for them and their families,” says Johnson. “The roads were still dirt and there were no sidewalks, but … houses popped up everywhere.” By the late 1940s, the last large farm had been sold for housing development, and the population grew from less than 10,000 in 1940 to about 50,000 by 1970.
Today, the town, now home to about 35,000 residents, retains its draw as an affordable destination for buyers, including veterans.
One Home, Many Lives Enriched
Soon after he completed his service in the Army, O’Neal Hampton Jr. and his wife, Sarah, purchased a Richfield home from Sarah’s sister, who was moving out of state.
It was October 1985, and the GI Bill made the sale possible, says O’Neal, who went on to work for the U.S. Postal Service. “We were on a tight budget,” he says. Of the $89,000 sticker price, he remembers telling Sarah, “That's almost $100,000. We can't afford this.”
The couple raised four biological children and several foster children in the home. “Family life in this house was amazing,” says Sarah. “Our kids never owned a house key. It was magical. They could just come in. Their friends would come in … there was plenty of room, lots of love, lots of fun times, lots of memories.”
Along with being their home base, the house enabled the couple to set their children up for success. The Hamptons worked hard to pay down their mortgage, then leveraged the equity in their home to cover their children’s college education. Then, in 2020, they gifted the home to their daughter, SunShine, and her husband, Joe Cline.
“There’s a ripple effect that’s endless and positive and growing,” says Sarah. “O'Neal and I got a fair shot by getting this home through the VA loan. And we wanted to give our children a good start in life. All of the kids are successful in their endeavors. And it started right here, in 1985, from … getting a VA loan to buy a home.”
Before the couple moved out, “I looked around the house and … honestly thought for half a second, ‘Did I make the right decision by leaving?’” says Sarah. “What overrode that thought is where it’s going. That meant a lot and made me feel good.”
“We’ve been slowly upgrading and … making more memories,” SunShine says. “We want to continue that legacy … and be a safe refuge. These walls are going to carry on through our kids’ future, and this house will be with us for a long time.”
A Continued Draw
“Richfield is just as appealing today as it was post-World War II,” says Bryan Clapper, broker-owner of Maker Real Estate in St. Paul, Minn. Clapper has earned recognition in the Twin Cities and beyond for his quirky videos on Minnesota neighborhoods and for the new podcast, Being Minnesotan, that he cohosts with Emmaline Childs. Clapper calls Richfield “a vibrant community that continues to draw young people and families with its mix of activities. … It’s an ideal place to live with its small-town vibe and urban amenities.”
“We have neighborhood parks everywhere,” says Johnson of the town’s 23 city-owned green spaces. She also praises the city’s convenient location, which she says is a short drive to downtown Minneapolis, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, the capital city of St. Paul and the Mall of America—a center for family entertainment. “It’s a great central location for people to live in because we are near everything and yet we have everything.”
It also offers an inventory that appeals to first-time buyers. Many of the homes are 800- to-1,000 square-foot ramblers or Cape Cods with two or three bedrooms, says Johnson. “They were modest and affordable because of the GI bill.”
Realtors Property Resource® shows Richfield as a strong sellers’ market with under three months of inventory—but recent data from Realtor.com suggests buyers may find room for negotiation. As of September 2026, the median listing home price was $344,500, down 2.11% from the previous year. The median sale price was $365,250, down 5.12% from the year before. The price per square foot was $207, down 1.05% from the previous year. There were 114 active listings, up 64.47% from the previous year.
Building More Than Equity
“The equity from this house allowed me to go to college and law school,” says Sarah and O’Neal’s son Jazz Hampton, standing in front of his childhood home. “This house helped me start my own career and build … my own generational wealth that I can pass down to my children.”
“It means so much to have this house stay within the family,” says Jazz’s older brother, O’Neal Hampton III.
“It's so cool to drive by … the house where I have so many memories and know it's still within our family and we still get to be a part of it,” agrees Jazz. “I think my kids get sick of us, when we drive by [saying], ‘That's where this happened,’ or ‘In the front yard, I played catch with my dad’ or ‘That’s where Mom yelled at us for playing on the clothesline.’”
“When people hear ‘generational wealth,’ they might think of bank accounts or big mansions,” says Sarah. “We think of it as something that’s worth a lot more. It’s family happiness.”
