DETROIT (WWJ) — Detroit’s largest private home is headed to auction.
The historic 31,192-square-foot Bishop Mansion in the Palmer Woods neighborhood will be auctioned on Monday after being listed for sale for more than a year.
The sprawling mansion — which features 12 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and a 2,000 square-foot carriage house — at 19366 Lucerne Drive was originally built in 1920 for the family of the Bishop’s family of the Catholic Church in Detroit.
Bishop Michael Gallagher was the first to live in the mansion, followed by Cardinals Edward Mooney and John Francis Dearden.
In 1989 John Salley of the Detroit Pistons bought and moved into the mansion before selling it to Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries International several years later. The current owners of the mansion bought the property from Great Faith Ministries in 2017.
The Bishop Mansion is currently under renovation, but the Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company says it is “being offered to the public with much of the substantial construction already complete.”
The mansion contains new windows, new tile roof, and new copper gutters, while the exterior brick and stone have been “thoroughly cleaned and polished.”
The home contains a large collection of Pewabic glazed tile, rich with Michigan history as well as several European touches and materials.
Schrader says the detached guest house has been completely renovated to be move-in ready, boasting a heated four-car garage, and “provides a glimpse to what can be done to the main home.”
“This is going to be a sealed bid auction, so the advantage in this scenario for the buyers is that it’s a very confidential auction method. It's not like a live auction where you go stand and hold your hand up in a crowd,” auction agent Luke Schrader told the Detroit Free Press.
Sealed bids are due by 5 p.m. on Monday, June 10. They can be delivered to the home at 19366 Lucerne Drive from 1-5 p.m. that day or emailed to luke@schraderauction.com.
More information on the home and a gallery of pictures can be found on the Schrader website.
More on today's top stories: