A 45,000-square-foot shell of a stunning mansion with its own island on a huge lake is for sale for $72 million — and the property comes with scary Halloween-style folklore.
Flathead Lake in Dayton, Montana, is the largest natural inland lake west of the Mississippi — bigger than Northern California’s Lake Tahoe. Cromwell Island, with about three miles of shoreline itself, sits in the center of the lake. In the late 1980s, antique automobile and arms collector Robert M. Lee and his wife Anne built the exterior shell of an enormous home on the island, but the interior was not completed before Lee died in 2016.
A few Halloweens ago, the entire island, the main residence and a completed guest house hit the market for the first time. It re-listed earlier this year at $72 million.
“An island offering is always unique,” listing agent Bill McDavid of Hall and Hall said in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “An offering to own the largest wholly owned private island west of the Mississippi River is near fantasy. Cromwell Island, while planned as a personal residence, could be equally well-suited for development or a private club. “
The island property features striking views of snowcapped mountains. And, some claim, Flathead Lake can also offer a glimpse of a deer-like water monster with huge antlers known as Flessie.
The story of a lake monster has roots in a traditional legend of the Kutenai, the first native tribe in the area. As the tale goes, two girls from the tribe saw antlers protruding through the frozen lake’s surface while crossing it during winter. As they attempted to cut off the antlers, the ice cracked open, revealing a monstrous creature with giant antlers. The girls escaped using magical powers, but half the tribe perished in the lake, according tot he legend.
A monster legend grows
The legend has persisted.
“Like Loch Ness, Flathead even has its own monster,” according to Hall and Hall marketing materials. “While the lore of a huge antlered monster living in the lake is rooted in the ancient oral histories of the Kootenai Tribe, recorded sightings of the creature date back to 1889 when a steamboat captain along with 100 passengers spotted a ‘whale-like’ object on the water that dove after being shot at by one of the passengers. Somewhere along the way, locals dubbed the monster Flessie, an obvious hat tip to her counterpart in Scotland.”
No less interesting is the empty Cromwell Island home itself. This grand mansion awaits its full transformation into a luxurious residence. A buyer can be free to design the interior exactly the way they want while living in the completed guest house.
“Even in its unfinished state, it has a magnitude of presence reminiscent of Versailles,” according to the property listing. “The mystique endures as Cromwell Island is now for sale and, with so many possibilities, a new owner will have the opportunity to write the next chapter of a storied place.”
Montana has become a hot place for the rich and famous to own homes. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, Tom Brady and Bill Gates all own homes in Montana.
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