DETROIT - A Victorian mansion in Brush Park that was on and off the market for nearly three years was finally sold in late November.

The Inn at 97 Winder was a bed and breakfast previously owned by Ghassan and Marilyn Yazbeck, but it had not been active for several years.

The selling price: $2.4 million.

The new owner, a Detroit-native, purchased the 1880 property because of his "love and appreciation" for older buildings, rather than thinking of it as a business venture, said real estate agent Dan Mullan.

He said other interested buyers were looking at the property with the idea of gutting the inside.

"I'm thrilled they're going to keep the same decor and keep it in the same period piece that it's in," Mullan said.

He didn't identify the buyer or disclose more plans for the property's future, but it may remain a bed and breakfast.

The mansion, within walking distance from the Fox Theatre, Comerica Park, Ford Field and the new Little Caesars Arena, has 11 bedrooms, 11.5 bathrooms and a master suite with spiral stairway leading to a loft area overlooking the Midtown skyline.

It also has a finished basement, gourmet kitchen and island, a courtyard with several parking spaces, high ceilings, wood floors, accents of oak moldings around door frames, chandeliers and classic Victorian furnishings.

When the property was initially listed, several agents saw the high asking price as a difficult selling point, but Mullan defended it.

"Some people said 'Wow this is gorgeous ... but are you nuts. Why would you list property in Detroit for $2.4 million unless it was a 10-story office building?'" he said. "Recognizing the value of something like that would be difficult without seeing it and looking into the potential of it."

Mullan listed the 11,000 square-foot property three years ago and launched a marketing campaign a year later to reach different audiences in the real estate world.

It was marketed as a mansion, a bed and breakfast and a potential retreat or corporate office space.

The property was taken off the market for some time for restoration work, but Mullan said it was work done "in a manner that reflects the grandeur of the Victorian era," including 10- to 12- inch moldings and imported door hinges and tiles.

"[It] was nothing I've seen before, and I've been in the real estate business for 35 years," Mullan said.