When you’re a billionaire, why not bring an amusement park home?
Michigan mortgage mogul and Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia is building the state’s largest home in the town of Bloomfield outside Detroit, which also has something akin to an amusement park, “USA TODAY” report.
To make way for the 14-acre, 60,000-square-foot mansion, Ishbia intends to demolish his current 22,000-square-foot, eight-year-old home and five neighboring properties.
The media said that the new mansion will be equipped with a series of luxury facilities, including a trampoline park, a basketball court with a high screen, a large sports complex, a tree house, a “magic forest” surrounded by gates and masonry piers, a reflecting pool, a climbing wall and a 14-foot waterfall.
Not everything was approved at the town’s Zoning Appeals Board meeting: For example, a go-kart track and garage were rejected due to noise concerns.
An abundance of evergreens will be planted around the mansion to ensure privacy and block the view of passing trains. Despite resistance from the subdivision’s homeowners’ association, which initially cited the area’s covenant restrictions, Ishbia’s legal team tweaked plans to add more landscaping and screening to meet neighbors’ demands and get approval.
Ishbia, co-founder of Shore Capital, was ranked by Forbes as the fourth richest person in Michigan in 2022, with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion.
His brother Justin is no stranger to building large homes: Once the Winnetka project is complete, he and his wife Kristen will have the most expensive home in Illinois.
The new 68,300-square-foot mansion sits on 3.7 acres and is listed for $43.7 million, according to the Chicago Tribune. report, citing building consent records lodged with the North Shore suburban council. The total cost of the project came to $77.7 million, including payments for the three houses the Ishbias knocked down to create their grand estate on the shores of Lake Michigan.
— Ted Glazer
