Once set to become the biggest mansion in Canada, this sprawling home was never finished. Multi-millionaire Peter Grant, who made his fortune in wood, started working on his self-build project in 2005 when he bought a 43-acre plot (17.4ha) next to Lake Temiskaming in Northern Ontario.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Grant paid around CAD$110,000 ($81k/£61k) for the land and began crafting the building, which was to become his home and corporate office. Thanks to images captured by urban explorer Freaktography, we can still take a look around.
Grant’s mansion, which is said to span 65,000 square feet (604sqm), was almost finished when the global economic recession left him without the funds to continue. Then, in 2009, Grant filed for court protection from creditors, following mounting debts.
Shortly afterwards, all of Grant’s company assets, including his part-finished mansion, were put up for sale. The asking price in 2010 was a whopping CAD$25 million ($18.5m/£13.9m).
Inside, the abandoned building boasts huge winding corridors that lead to vast living rooms kitted out with floor-to-ceiling windows, grand fireplaces and statement brick walls. There is a massive atrium with a soaring ceiling, two discarded swimming pools and a colossal stone waterfall that appears to spill outside from the home’s interior.
The building was purchased by a Toronto-based company but they did little to improve the property. Many of the exterior spaces have been damaged by vandals, despite the security cameras that were installed, while the interior remains littered with construction materials.
In 2023, the mansion was reportedly snapped up by Texan entrepreneur Chris Fischer, who has been described as an “audacious, irreverent, master of sarcasm”. He was said to be looking at several possibilities for its future use, including a starring role in a reality TV series called Mansion Impossible.
Apparently, the series will follow the businessman and his family, as they take on the major renovation project, which would undoubtedly take several years to complete. According to the show’s Facebook page there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes, with a camera crew pictured outside the mansion in October 202