A home fit for a movie with a movie theater and a true backstory crazier than any movie plot is still on the market ... eight years later, for a fraction of its original price — proving that truth is stranger than fiction.
When this 16,000-square-foot Northville mansion nestled among 3.1 acres of trees first hit the market in 2015 for $14.5 million, it was considered the most expensive residential property in the state. Built in 2000, the palatial estate boasts a curious history. Its original millionaire owner and former owner of the Plymouth Community Crier newspaper, Dr. Thomas Prose, made headlines for suing the city in 2001 for $100 million after being arrested for violating a protection order. Later, Prose, uh, basically asked to be the honorary consul for Ohio and Michigan on behalf of the Czech government, which was how he came to the conclusion that he need not pay property taxes because his mansion was, well, technically on foreign soil. The listing alleges the home has hosted “US presidents & foreign dignitaries.”
Now in the hands of new realtors, the seven-bed, seven-bath home is no longer the most expensive home in the state, but it continues to boast luxurious features as if were, including excessive use of marble, an elevator, a six-car garage, a central vacuum (if you don't know what this is, you're probably not a millionaire), a four-floor floating circular stairway complete with gold leaf dome, 2twoDiebold bank vault doors, a wine cellar, staff quarters, and, the heart of the home, a 13-seat movie theater — a replica of New York's Paramount Movie Palace theater complete with a ticket booth.
Who wants to bet there's one of those secret bookcases that opens up into a dungeon?
Photos via mikeandmarygladchun.com
