Just in case you happen to win the $50 Million dollar Lotto Max prize the South Down Farm estate in Caledon, Ontario which lists for $18.5 Million Dollars might be the house for you. The house actually is only the second most expensive house in the Caledon area, the most expensive still goes Eaton family’s famous Hawkridge Farm estate at $24 Million.

The South Down Farm estate is 488 acres in size and entirely enclosed with chain linked fencing and houses the massive 13,000 sq. ft. house designed by Adam Smuszkowics. The mansion features include a 6,000 sq. ft. finished basement, beautiful architecture, 5 ensuite bedrooms plus 2 bedrooms below level and an elevator services all floors. The property also includes another house with 4+3 bedrooms, a 16 stall barn, a greenhouse, a pond with great gardens and a large sugar shack. There are massive rolling hills with hardwood bush and streams over 300 acres. For more info and pictures of the property check out the listing page from Gairdner & Associates Real Estate.

The house has been rumored to have been owned by the late Trivial Pursuit co-creator Chris Haney who passed away earlier this summer. I have no way to confirm this, so if you know anything just let me know.

If you are curious where this property is, its address is 1880 The Grange Side Road, Caledon, ON. Which is just west of Highway 10 and south of Forks of the Credit Rd. and is actually close to the Eaton estate as well. See the Google Maps link below.

If you drive along Airport Road frequently you may have seen this house which is just north of Caledon East. I am not quite sure what the story is about this house but it has been left abandoned for several years now and the only info I can find about it online is that it was broken into a couple years ago but was still left abandoned at that point. If anyone knows the story behind this house please let me know as I am curious about it. I find that this particular abandoned house is a little unusual given that most of the ones I have seen in the area are old century homes not newer constructions and given the value of the Caledon, Ontario real estate even for empty lots I find it a little weird that someone would just allow it to rot away like this.

Google Canada today revealed more than 130 Canadian cities to be viewed in the 3D environment of Google street view mode. Among those cities are Bolton, Orangeville and surprisingly many parts of Caledon, Ontario. Even the smaller the towns of Caledon Village, Caledon East, Alton & Mono Mills are mapped as well as many of the main roads through all of Caledon. Mapping by the famous google camera car was done this past summer, I actually saw it in person in Orangeville one weekend.

Street View is a free feature in Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for mobile. It was first launched in 2007 and it now includes imagery from 18 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. To start exploring, simply visit maps.google.ca and zoom in to the lowest level or drag the orange “Pegman” icon from the left side of the map onto a blue-lined street.

Google Street View has also become a great tool for real estate, it provides people an easy way to show what is around the house that is for sale in the neighbourhood, gives people a better idea of a property and area instead of just blindly showing up. However on the other side of things Google has come under fire for privacy concerns surrounding the service and has addressed those issues by blurring out the faces of people in the photos, as well as licence plates on vehicles.

If you see anything of interest in the Caledon area on Google Maps Street View please leave a comment here.

The famous Eaton family mansion that sits on a 150 acre estate in Caledon which is also now being called Hawkridge Farm on the real estate listing appears to still be for sale after initially being listed for sale back in late 2007. At a price tag of $24 million dollars it easily remains the most expensive piece of real estate in not just Ontario but all of Canada and given the current economic conditions it is not really surprising that it hasn’t sold yet.

There may be other reasons for why it hasn’t sold yet though, there was an on-going lawsuit initiated by the family against the builders of the house alleging building code violations, lack of adequate insulation and structural deficits. Earlier this year however the lawsuit was settled and the case was dismissed, none of the details of the settlement have been made public.

The huge estate covers 150 acres that includes forests, a freshwater stream, cattle pastures, walking trails, gardens and a pond. The 24,000 square foot home includes a large living room, formal dining room, a large kitchen, 11 bedrooms and an indoor pool. The home belongs to George Ross Eaton, a Canadian department store heir. It was designed by Thierry Despont and building of this expansive over 28,000-foot mansion began in the late 1980s but didn’t finish up until 1996 at a reported cost of $20 million Canadian. A few years later facing tax problems, Eaton put the home on the market for that price but didn’t get any takers so he later took the house off the market until 2007 however yet again there appears to be no takers.

If you do happen to have a spare $24 million laying around and interesting in purchasing this property, click here for more info.

A few pictures from the real estate listing:

To see all of the photos, click here.

Or if you are just curious where this monstrous estate is located in Caledon, then click here to see it on Google Maps.

Here is some gossip news from the Toronto Star about Elton John possibly moving into the Caledon, Ontario. Rumors of him building a mansion on a large estate which is some where off Hwy. 10.

A few excerpts from the article:

The sprawling house on a large estate adjacent to the Devil’s Pulpit Golf Association has been widely rumoured to belong to John and Furnish since construction began about three years ago.

The house may be larger than 20,000 square feet. It is mostly obscured by trees and it is surrounded by barbed wire. Though nobody in its vicinity seems to have actually seen John there, much of the town appears convinced it belongs to him.

When John has concerts in Ontario, security around the estate increases noticeably, says John Corby, owner of Orangeville’s Blighty’s Tuck Store. The shop, which sells products imported from England, is a short drive from the mansion.

To read the full Toronto Star article, click here.