Mansion valued at $2.5 million sells at auction for just $550,000
A massive house and piece of land listed for sale on Saskatoon Kijiji has sold for $550,000. Auction staff say it was a once-in-a-lifetime item.
The unfinished mansion sits on a 160-acre estate complete with cultivated land, south of Highway 3 between the towns of Weldon and Kinistino. On Thursday, an online bidder from British Columbia bought it during an auction at Ritchie Brothers Auctions in Saskatoon. The auction took less than 10 minutes.
Luke Fritshaw, regional sales manager for Ritchie Brothers, said the sale price was higher than expected. Despite the fact the house was valued at $2.5 million, both the auction house and the sellers are pleased with the results, as the structure requires a lot of work, he said.
“There’s a lot of money that still needs to be spent on that house and not everyone is ready to just jump into a half-built house and spend a whole pile of money. The price, I think, reflects still what needs to be done,” Fritshaw said.
“There’s been millions and millions spent on that house, but you have to have the right person that’s going to spend millions and millions more to live in that area.”
Ross Sinclair, a semi-retired farmer who was at Thursday ’s auction, said the mansion was a unique item. Farmland and buildings can come up for sale, “but nothing like this,” he said.
“I don’t know (if ) you could even move that. I guess you could in sections.”
He has personally visited the property and found the construction, foundation and groundwork “very impressive,” Fritshaw said. “They didn’t spare any expense when they were building it.”
Lewis Doyle said he and his wife Rebecca inherited the property and “because of the circumstances of how I got it, I really know nothing about the house.”
Why the house was built and what purpose it was intended to serve is still an unanswered question. Fritshaw said he has heard rumours, but doesn’t want to speculate.
He’s fairly certain he’ll never see another lot like this, he said.
“We do sell some fairly big properties, especially out of Alberta, but something as unique as this, that’s unfinished, that’s that size, it’s probably going to be a lifetime before that ever comes up again.”
He said the identity of the new owners will be made public once the title of the home is transferred, which will take place over the next few months.