Chicago gangster, Al Capone, used this place in Couderay, Wisconsin as a hideout. The construction of the estate started in 1925. It is about 140 miles northeast of Minneapolis. The main lodge is where Capone lived, and it has walls that are eighteen inches thick. Inside has hand-cut stone fireplace and custom-made spiral staircases were created in Chicago. It also has a stone gun tower (pictured), where machine gun-armed guards watched out for the authorities. There is also a caretaker’s cottage and a bunkhouse. A barn on the estate is supposed to have housed chickens, so the gangster could have fresh eggs. There is even a jail house on the grounds (pictured), a very small single cell surrounded by a brick wall. It was later turned into a restaurant and tourist attraction. Mike Duchek (photographer) told me that he took a tour of the hideout while working in Rhinelander.

It sits on 407 acre site and the property is being auctioned on the steps of the courthouse in Sawyer County today (October 8, 2009). The starting bid is $2.6 million. The estate overlooks Blueberry Lake.

Photography is by Mike Duchek.

UPDATE:

The Sawyer County Sheriff's Department, Margie Schull says Chippewa

Valley bank was the only bidder during a five-minute sheriff's sale on the steps of the county courthouse today.