A six-bedroom, 11,528-square-foot French Provincial-style mansion in Wheaton was listed on March 7 for $3.59 million, and its owners are capitalizing on the recent runup in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin by offering to receive full payment for the house in cryptocurrency.
In recent weeks, the prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have hit all-time highs, driven at least in part by the SEC’s January approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the subsequent rollout of a raft of Bitcoin ETFs.
Owners Joe and Laurie Meissner are willing to accept Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency for their Wheaton mansion. Listing agent Michael LaFido of eXp Realty said that to his knowledge, this is one of the few homes not listed on either of the two coasts where a seller is willing to accept cryptocurrencies as a payment.
“As someone who worked in the professional trading community for over 25 years, I have seen the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies and their usefulness in financial transactions,” Meissner said in a statement. “My experience with these transactions has made me comfortable with accepting this form of payment for our home.”
Built in 2008, the mansion has a 6-1/2 bathrooms, two custom-designed French limestone fireplaces on the first floor, an arched mahogany front door, a front terrace with travertine flooring and limestone-capped piers, cupolas, finials, wrought iron accents, vaulted and traded ceilings, knotty dark walnut-stained plank flooring on the first floor, ancient encaustic tiles and a kitchen with high-end appliances and granite countertops.
Other features include custom Romar cabinetry, a dining room with Schonbeck crystal chandeliers, a music room and a finished lower level with a kitchen, an exercise room, a drum room, an office and a family room. Outside on the 0.61-acre property are an attached and oversized two-car garage with radiant heated flooring, a detached two-car garage, a patio with a gas fire pit and a DCS grill, an outdoor sunroom with heated lamps and travertine flooring and an in-ground sprinkler system.
The Meissners paid $434,000 in 2005 for a previous house on the property and then razed that house and built the stucco and stone mansion.
The mansion had a $35,068 property tax bill in the 2022 tax year.
The mansion is Wheaton’s highest-priced listing, and its asking price is more than $500,000 higher than the amount for which any existing Wheaton home ever has changed hands. LaFido noted that he believes that accepting cryptocurrencies in payment will allow “a pool of potential buyers who have benefited from the rise in value of cryptocurrencies to use those assets to purchase a luxury home.”
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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