Gatsbyesque $5.8M waterfront mansion for sale in Lake Bonavista

Inside 12231 Lake Louise Way S.E., in Calgary, Alta. (jamienewton.ca/Brendan Harris)

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the title character lives in a large, lavish waterfront home in Long Island, N.Y.

While Calgary may be a long way from New York, a newly listed house for sale in the community of Lake Bonavista evokes the same sense of opulence and grandeur.

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The 6,358-square-foot mansion, built in 2006, has four bedrooms – two above grade and two below – as well as four bathrooms and two half-baths.

Listed by Jamie Newton from Re/Max First, the asking price is $5.8 million.

“There’s definitely a sense of timelessness and scale to the home that people respond to immediately,” he said.

“The owners and visitors to the home have commented that certain elements remind them of the Banff Springs hotel, particularly the rich woodwork, architectural detailing, and the sense of warmth and permanence throughout.”

“The millwork, ceiling detail, stonework and overall construction quality would be extraordinarily expensive to replicate today.”

The home sits on a lakefront lot with its own private dock, surrounded by mature landscaping.

“It is exceptionally rare to find a true southwest-facing lakefront estate with this level of privacy, scale and craftsmanship,” Newton said.

The home has an enormous two-storey library, which Newton says is an “absolutely show-stopper.”

“My jaw hit the floor when I first walked into this room,” he said. “It overlooks the lake and is really a special room. The current owners spend a lot of time in here.”

The kitchen, meanwhile, includes one of the home’s five fireplaces.

Upstairs, the primary suite has a vast view of the lake, plus an ensuite bathroom and a walk-in closet.

In the walkout basement, there’s a bar and lounge space, as well as a games room or rec room.

“The lakeside grotto area is part of the walkout level experience just outside the basement,” Newton adds. “It creates a really unique transition to the lakefront and adds to the resort-like feel of the backyard setting.”

The attached garage has parking for six vehicles.

The home, located at 12231 Lake Louise Way S.E., has been listed on Realtor.ca for a day, with annual property taxes of $31,272.

“In any luxury market across the country, urban opportunities like this come along very infrequently,” Newton said.

He says the ideal buyer for the home is someone looking for a long-term legacy property rather than simply a luxury home.

“It would appeal to a family that values privacy, entertaining and an active lifestyle centered around the lake, but also someone who appreciates architecture and craftsmanship that feels enduring rather than trend driven.”