After a year on the market with nary a trace of buyer interest, Detroit’s largest private residence will go up for auction on Monday.
The Detroit Free Press reported the Bishop Mansion, a 31,192-square-foot residence built in the 1920s, was listed for sale at $9 million in May 2023. The price was later cut to $7 million before being slashed again earlier this year to $6 million. After more than a year on the market without a taker, a property auction will be coordinated by Schrader Real Estate and Auction Company Inc.
“This is going be a sealed bid auction, so the advantage in this scenario for the buyers is that it’s a very confidential auction method,” said Luke Schrader, an auction agent for Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. Inc. “It’s not like a live auction where you go stand and hold your hand up in a crowd.”
Bishop Mansion encompassed 12 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and multiple fireplaces. The 2-acre property also includes a 2,057-square-foot guest house. The estate is currently under renovation and the winning bidder will receive engineering plans to complete the upgrades.
The property changed hands over the years, with diverse owners. It was owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit and was home to Catholic Bishop Michael Gallagher before being sold to Detroit Piston John Salley in 1989, who sold it in 1995 to Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries International and president and founder of the Impact Network, the nation’s largest African-American Christian television network. It last changed hands in 2017 when a private investor in California acquired it for more than $2.5 million.
Photo courtesy of Zillow
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This is so common. A mansion built to order for someone’s oversized ego has to face reality when the next generation moves on.