Scioto River estate comes with an $8-million price tag, 16 bedrooms and 28 bathrooms

Columbus-area home shoppers looking for a secluded getaway don't need to look far.

For $8 million, they can buy their own retreat overlooking the Scioto River. 

For that, they get 16 bedrooms, a commercial kitchen, hand-painted murals, indoor fountains, a pool, a boathouse with a dock, a tennis court, an orchard, croquet and shuffleboard courts, two guest cottages, two self-contained apartments, a stream and a pond, all on 6.8 acres.

Oh — and 28 bathrooms.

"It would definitely be great for entertaining," said Stephanie Hyer, who is listing the home with Scott Street with the firm Street Sotheby's International Realty.

"It's secluded and gated and completely private. ... It's resort-style living."

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When the guests get too loud, owners can retreat to their suite, which includes two-and-a-half bathrooms, three rooms that could serve as bedrooms, along with a kitchen, a dining room and another room that could work as a dressing room or a gift-wrapping room.

"There are so many features about the house that make it extraordinary," Hyer said.

"The details, the building materials, the marble, the woodwork, is incredible, the lighting fixtures are exquisite, the murals and how they're incorporated into the building and its home are amazing."

The Tuscan-style home, built in 1990, is so distinctive that it landed this week on Zillow Gone Wild, the real-estate website's lineup of over-the-top properties.

"Holy moly," wrote one commenter on Zillow Gone Wild's Facebook post. 

Located on Dublin Road

At 4500 Dublin Road in Norwich Township, the home is loaded with eccentricities: a balcony that extends over the entrance, allowing residents to wave hello or goodbye to guests; a 15-foot gate that descends from the ceiling to protect second-floor bedrooms from intruders; a five-story elevator; 42 furnaces; and a hair salon overlooking the master bedroom.

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The home, now owned by a charity, was built by Don Ettore, who owned the now-defunct housing firm Qualstan Corp. The retreat also was once owned by Thomas Parenteau, a custom homebuilder who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for bank fraud and other crimes.

Previous record sale was $5.2 million

If the mansion comes close to fetching the asking price, it would shatter the previous record for the sale of a Columbus-area home. In 2010, a New Albany home fetched $5.2 million, and in 2013, Tami Longaberger, then CEO of the Longaberger Co., sold her Nashport-area home for $6 million. 

"I do think this would be the highest-priced, single-family residence in central Ohio," Hyer said. "We weren't able to locate anything higher."

Hyer lists the property at 32,675 square feet, but that includes the guest houses and separate apartments. The main home is so large and includes so many balconies, alcoves, lofts and other unusual spaces that it's hard to say precisely how big it is, she said.

Previous estimates have placed the main home at between 24,414 square feet or 26,828 square feet, which would place it among the top five largest central Ohio homes. 

The home also includes fireplaces — a lot of them. 

"There are multiple fireplaces," Hyer said. "I've actually lost track trying to count them."

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker