This house is crazy cat cool! Lion and tiger cool!
How many houses are built OVER a moat? The African Queen is!
And yes, that is really her name.
Where is this eye-popping safari-inspired manor located?
None other than Springfield Missouri.
Built in 1964, the home measures in at over 3,100 square feet but oddly, only has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. As you might imagine, the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms are very special.
Designed by the late Don Russell, the estate was developed by Michael Willhoit who was reportedly a huge fan of the 1951 movie The African Queen. No kidding!
The custom front doors were reportedly “sourced” from Goa, India and date to the 1820s.
Have a look inside…
Rah!
This home is a virtual African jungle safari on 6 mid-western acres of land.
Do you notice that floor?
It’s a 2-inch thick, 8-foot x 5-foot glass window looking down into the moat.
The luxury kitchen features a massive counter made of 4 inch thick Carthage stone.
And take a closer look at the floor:
Tile? No, that is a wood mosaic African crocodile – a 550,000 piece mosaic wood floor assembled from Oak, Walnut and Ebony. The kitchen floor alone cost $400,000.
How did the homeowner afford all this insanity?
Apparently he made his fortune in real estate and selling exotic cars in Springfield.
Every room has an awe-factor feature (or two)… like the tusk light fixture in the dining area:
Not to mention the elephant pedestal table.
One of the rooms features a taxidermy African Lion overlooking a handmade full-size copper hot tub built into the bluff:
The home also comes with a 265 gallon salt water aquarium, a 3,000 pound bronze rhino imported from London, a custom shake room from British Columbia (a whole room!!!), and then there’s this poor guy:
Yep, it all comes with.
This house has been on and off the market since at 2016 with a ping-pong price history: it went from $15,000,000 in 2016 to $9,800,000 in April 2017 and back up to $15,000,000 in late April 2017 and down to $6,900,000 in May 2017. The property is back on the market today for $15,000,000 and it is FSBO.
In the master bedroom, there are some massive horn things book-ending the bed:
The listing says they are “two 7-foot tall hand-carved wooden tusks cut in Africa in c.1890”. Wow!
And in the master bathroom – it’s like an upscale Flintstone’s spa:
Even the decorative toilet is a jaw-dropper:
RAH!
The study:
Let’s have a closer look at those unusual candlesticks…
YIKES!
It will take a very specific type of buyer to get this unorthodox property sold.
Tiger King‘s got nothing on this crazy place!
Sources:
www.priceypads.com/springfield-mos-15m-african-queen-estate
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2829-S-Lone-Pine-Ave-Springfield-MO
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