Wisconsin’s Ellison Bay Manor!

Wisconsin’s Ellison Bay Manor!

Wisconsin's Ellison Bay Manor!

Must SeeTop 10 Florida Condos For Sale

The Door County, Wisconsin peninsula, better known as "The Cape Cod of the Midwest" to locals and tourists, juts northward into Lake Michigan. Due to the treacherous rock outcroppings near the shipping channel, the 18th century French referred to it as Death’s Door and the lake bottom is littered with the remains of shipwrecks. With its twelve lighthouses and five state parks, it is a natural haven for the wealthy and tourists. Adding to the romance of Door County is the sad love story of Ellison Bay Manor.

Located at the northern tip on 22 forested acres, the estate was, at one time, the most expensive home in Wisconsin. The previous owners were Frank and Annie Spitzer. Frank was an Italian immigrant who grew up in Chicago and eventually earned a fortune manufacturing electrical enclosures and junction boxes in California. He spoke five languages and knew everyone who was anyone in the 1960s, '70s and '80s with best friends such as Hugh Hefner and Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Frank and Annie were living in California when Annie found the Door County estate online in 2006 and purchased it, sight unseen. However, as they began shipping their belongings from California to Wisconsin, Annie fell ill and died just months later at the age of 60. Frank, devastated by his wife’s death, never left California and died there in 2011 at age 92.

Containing 35,000 square feet of living space, included in the sale are the furnishings, a beach house, three bedroom guest-staff house and 80 additional acres. The mansion has four bedrooms, including the 5,000 square foot master suite, ten bathrooms and a two-story paneled library with a large fireplace said to be a replica from the Vanderbilt Mansion in North Carolina. There is a movie theater with ticket booth and concession stand, multiple sitting rooms, two-story grand parlor, and an attached flower arranging-potting room that also acts as a greenhouse. The indoor pool and spa were built with quarry stone from Jerusalem. The home’s wallpaper and carpet were imported from England.

Extra incentive is now available to potential buyers by the heirs’ offer to pay the real estate taxes on the property for the next five years at an estimated value of $500,000. Four percent of the sale of the home will be donated to charities including one of the buyer’s choice.

Originally priced at $19.5 million, Ellison Bay Manor is now listed at $8.75 million.

Source: www.sothebysrealty.com