A huge house with a huge price tag

A property in Ottawa that sold for a near-record price. Courtesy: Dreamproperties.com

There is buying a house.

And then there’s buying a mansion.

A home in Ottawa recently sold for $7.675 million. It’s the second-highest price for a listed house ever in the city. The buyer, and seller, wish to remain anonymous.

“In 2003 we sold the highest (priced) house in Ottawa,” says Marilyn Wilson, a luxury real estate specialist at dreamproperties.com.  “That sold for $8,250,000. This house was listed for $8,250,000 and it sold for $7,675,000.”

What do you know? A bargain!

So what does almost $7.7-million buy a house-hunter these days? Oh, just around 15-thousand square feet on 2.5 acres with a view of the Ottawa River. 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a 5-car garage, heated drive and walkways, infinity pool, hot tub, putting green, basketball court, movie theatre, exercise room… and did we mention the 6 fireplaces?

The house was built in 2007 with interior design by Andre Godin. It dwarfs some of it neighbouring properties on Cedar Road in Ottawa’s Rothwell Heights. But at least one neighbour is OK with that. “There’s a lot of green space around it, a lot of trees,” says Bernard Holbrook of two doors down. “It makes the whole neighbourhood better.”

It’s not the kind of house that sells every day. But Marilyn Wilson says it’s been a good year for luxury homes. This is the third house to sell for over $3 million this year. She says that hasn’t happened since 2010. “So I think it’s indicative that the luxury market has picked up a bit,” she says.

A good year for homes most of us couldn’t afford in a million years.