DETROIT, MI - It may seem trite to say that the building for sale at 97 Winder embodies Detroit's past, present and possibly future, but it's hard to avoid such an obvious comparison when an ornate 19th Century mansion is just steps from Comerica Park.

It's odd. One moment you're inside the 11,000 square-foot mansion at 97 Winder and you feel like you're in the Old World - with the high ceilings, intricate wood floors, chandeliers, classic Victorian furnishings, oak molding around all door frames - and then you swing open the front door, and there is Comerica Park and Ford Field.

One moment you feel like you should be nibbling on fromage with a glass of Bordeaux, or puffing on a cigar with a glass of cognac near a fireplace, and with one turn of that front door, you feel like you should be inhaling a chili dog and pounding a beer at a Tigers or Lions game.

Somehow, with all of the dilapidation that has claimed Brush Park and the city of Detroit, 97 Winder has survived, but not necessarily thrived, and now the 11,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom house is on the selling block for a cool $2.5 million. It was built in 1880.

Real estate agent Dan Mullan said he has had it listed "for a couple months."

He said the

that current owners Ghassan and Marilyn Yazbeck have had in operation is still open for business, but has not been aggressively marketed.

"It's operational they just haven't really gone out of their way to promote it," Mullan said. "It was a vibrant business at one time, and they have other business interests."

Mullan said he has been marketing the property in a variety of ways.

"There is several different things it could lend itself to," he said. "It could be like a corporate retreat, executive retreat type thing, you could do professional offices in it."

The view of Comerica Park from the front steps of 97 Winder.

It could remain a bed and breakfast, or someone could even decide to buy it as a single-family home "for someone who would like to take advantage of Ford Field, right out that way," he said, gesturing to the front door.

Because it has been a bed and breakfast, Mullan argues that its upkeep is unparalleled compared to similar Detroit mansions, which typically have been stripped to the studs. And as for the $2.5 million asking price, he says that homes that are half this size and with arguably less character in Grosse Pointe are listed for the same price or more.

He is not far off - one 4,800-square-foot home on Lake Shore Drive

. Others are about in the same price range. That's not to mention the going rates for the same size homes in other areas of the country like

or

, though.

Apples to oranges, maybe, but here is this mansion, right in the heart of Detroit, a short walk from to Fox Theatre, listed for $2.5 million.

"I really feel the (buyer is) going to be someone who has a yearning to enjoy the cultural aspects of Detroit," Mullan said.