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The owner of a Wayne County mansion that has been on and off the market for a decade without a successful sale will instead try his hand at the auction block.
Castello Montebello, as the 2.2-acre property in Northville is called, was built in the early 2000s. It has hosted presidents and diplomats and was once used as a foreign consulate. But despite the 16,000-square-foot home’s relative short history and grandiosity, a sale has never materialized.
The mansion was last listed in early 2023, as Crain’s reported at the time, at an asking price of $4.9 million.
“This is a home that only takes one buyer who wants this lifestyle, who wants this location. This is the premier home in western Wayne and eastern Washtenaw counties,” Prose told Crain’s last year. “So if that buyer comes by tomorrow, the home is theirs. But I just can’t judge (the market). It’s going to require somebody that wants that home and that lifestyle.”
The auction process can prove appealing for homes such as Prose’s that have sat on the market for some time, said Stacy Kirk, vice president at Interluxe Auctions, the Charlotte, N.C.-based auction company marketing the properties.
“When properties are highly unique, they’re difficult assets to qualify what the value is,” Kirk told Crain’s. “So I think what we have here is a highly unique property. It’s difficult to ascertain what the value is because it is not easily replicated. And this seller is seeking a time-certain sale, and they understand that the buyers choose the price, not the seller.”
Kirk estimated the cost to build a comparable home now at around $20 million, meaning a buyer could acquire the Northville property for “pennies on the dollar” and only have to invest in interior aesthetics. The infrastructure of the home has been well maintained, she added.
The home, situated behind gates, includes numerous amenities such as an exercise room, wine cellar, elevator and a 13-seat movie theater designed to be a replica of the Paramount Theater in New York City.
“This exceptional estate features a guard house, a striking 4-story free-floating staircase, a light-filled great room with soaring ceilings, a lavish owner’s suite, a richly paneled library, heated 3-car and 4-car garages, and an elevator,” reads a news release announcing the auction.
Bidding for the adjacent 4-acre lot will start at $1.2 million, according to the news release.
Prose is also selling a 3-acre lakefront retreat in Gregory, in rural Livingston County northwest of Ann Arbor. The Eagle’s Crest property consists of a four-bedroom home built in 2019 with about 400 feet of shoreline surrounded by Half Moon Lake, Blind Lake and hardwood forest, according to marketing materials. Bidding on that property starts at $1.7 million.
Still, there’s no guarantee that an auction necessarily results in a sale.
Earlier this year, for instance, an auction was held for the Bishop Mansion in Detroit, believed to be the city’s largest residence. While the specific results of that auction have not been disclosed, public records show there has been no change in ownership since the May bidding.
Dylan Tent, a Realtor with Signature Sotheby’s International Realty who’s been the listing agent for the Northville home, noted that Interluxe has a strong track record of bringing new potential buyers to the table, often those who weren’t otherwise house hunting.
“The market has seen this house,” Tent said. “Now we have a whole new set of potential bidders.”
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