Mansion for sale: Historic Edmonton estate could be yours
The stately historic home was built in 1912
Looking to occupy your own piece of Edmonton history? A century-old mansion in the heart of the Highlands neighbourhood could be yours for $5.25 million.
The Magrath Mansion, built in 1912, has hit the market again.
The stately property boasts more than 7,385 square feet of above ground living space, six bedrooms, five baths, three kitchens and a three-car garage.
Sitting on five city lots, the mansion has a two-storey veranda flanked by imposing white columns, and offers sweeping views of the North Saskatchewan River valley.
A winding oak staircase leads to the second floor. The walls are adorned with hand-stenciled linen wallpaper. A roman bath bubbles in the fully finished basement.
Also hidden below ground, a fully equipped gym and a Second World War-era bunker.
The home is stunning and "definitely huge," says Cheryl Watt, a realtor with REMAX Excellence.
Sid and Nellie Braaksma called the mansion home for more than 20 years.
Shortly after he died in January 2019 at the age of 75, the family began making preparations to sell the property.
Watt said it was an emotional decision for the family.
"We've been working on this for almost a year, just preparing," Watt said in an interview with CBC News Wednesday.
"Nellie, she really struggled with it ... Pushing the button yesterday was a pretty big thing."
The mansion on Ada Boulevard, east of downtown, has been the showpiece of the neighborhood for decades.
Businessman and real-estate developer William Magrath built the home for his wife, Ada, and their children. He lived there until his death in November 1920.
After his death, with property taxes overdue, the home was seized by the local sheriff in 1931 and sold to the city in 1933.
After sitting empty for several years, it was rented as suites before the Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop took up residence in the late 1940s.
When the property came up for sale again in 2000, the Braaksmas bought the home for $750,000 and spent more than a year restoring it.
"The floor was creaking and peaking and all kinds of spots where it was totally worn," Sid Braaksma recalled during a tour of the mansion three years ago. "It took a year and a half to renovate."
By 2017, the fully renovated home — then assessed at $9.7 million — had become a draw for visitors during annual open houses hosted by the Highlands Historical Society.
The mansion may have seemed an odd purchase for a businessman who bought his cars used and said he "never spent a penny on fancy stuff."
He told CBC News that he thought the house would be too much work but bought it anyway because his wife liked it and wanted it preserved.
"My wife wanted this house saved," he said.
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