The world of Motor City real estate is no stranger to opulent, turreted paeans of the city's industrial heyday, but Curbed Detroit recently presented one that blows the rest out of the water. Built in 1892, the Hecker-Smiley Mansion was originally the family home of railroad tycoon Frank J. Hecker, who hired architect Louis Kamper to design the French Renaissance chateau equivalent of Scrooge McDuck doing backstrokes in a giant pool of money. Listed at a mere $2.8M after asking $3.5M back in 2009, the place contains 49 separate rooms finished in ornate oak, mahogany, and marble spread out over a massive 21,000 square feet, and if that weren't enough, there's a 5,700-square-foot carriage house out back. The sprawling manse currently serves as the office of Charfoos & Christensen, a law firm that shelled out over a million dollars to renovate it back in 1991. Head over to Curbed Detroit for the full low-down, or check out a few massively enviable rooms in the photos below.
· One of Detroit's Greatest Mansions is Back on the Market [Curbed Detroit]
· Hecker-Smiley Mansion [LoopNet]