This historic mansion with a rum-running past isn't selling. Here's what's being done to lure a buyer
CBC
The owner and realtor selling the Low-Martin mansion in Windsor, Ont., are trying some unconventional techniques to market the historic house, which has remained up for sale more than two years.
The mansion, also known as the Devonshire Lodge, was built in 1928 for rum runner Harry Low who was, at times, visited by Al Capone.
In the 1960s, the house was bought by Paul Martin Sr., the father of former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin, who grew up in the house.
"When you buy something like this, you don't want to change anything," owner Vern Myslichuk said.
Myslichuk, who bought the house in 2012, owns Bettermade Cabinets and began the task of restoring it from top to bottom.
"Everything's a restoration, from the drywall to the plaster to the panelling. Nothing was torn down and just modernized. Everything I did was to add to the feel of the house," he said. "I think going forward, it should stay that way."
He's spent the last two years trying to sell it but he doesn't want just anyone buying it.
Recently he took on realtor Razvan Mag to sell the house. He is seizing the power of social media to try and get the word out and find someone interested in taking the house on and meeting the nearly $3 million price tag.
He is using the quirky history of the house and its meaning to the city to inform a video series and even hiring a professional dancer in the hopes of catching the right buyer.
"He does some cool videos and I'm not really traditional myself, so I really like his approach," Myslichuk said.
Mag's most recent video envisions a future where the house is bought by a Toronto developer and turned into a three-storey condo unit.
Mag acknowledges that is an unlikely outcome, since any changes to the house would need approval under the Heritage Act — a point made by Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens as a response to the Instagram video.
"One hundred per cent he's correct but the interior could get retrofitted and I'd hate to see this [as] a contemporary open-concept home, for example," Mag said.
CBC has reached out to the mayor's office for comment.
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