Ice cream magnate auctioning off Monticello mansion replica
(AP) — Just before his 100th birthday, ice cream magnate S. Prestley Blake gave himself a $7.7 million gift — a house built to replicate Monticello, the famed Virginia home of Thomas Jefferson.
Jefferson's Monticello was built over 28 years at a cost of more than $100,000, according to its official website.
Because much of the work was bartered or done by slave labor, it is impossible to figure out an exact cost, The Thomas Jefferson Foundation says.
Blake, the co-founder of the Friendly's ice cream and restaurant chain, lives a few doors down on adjacent property connected by a horse trail.
The chandelier in the foyer also can be lowered electronically to replace light bulbs and a bookcase in the master bedroom opens to reveal a hidden safe.
Some potential bidders are considering it as a potential bed and breakfast or wedding venue; others are interested in living there, said Jack Hoyt, project sales manager for Concierge Auctions.