A new $2.5 million home in Aylmer could be torn down because it was built too close to the street but its owner wants the City of Gatineau to grant an exception to the bylaw.

Patrick Molla said he was granted approval to build his three-storey dream home more than a year ago — and that it was only after construction was well underway that neighbours complained and planners realized the mistake.

I feel stressed, there's no doubt. Especially because of the family - Patrick Molla

Molla said he will demand compensation from the city should he be forced to demolish his home, and uproot his wife and two young children.

"I feel stressed, there's no doubt. Especially because of the family," he said. "They don't understand at five years old that their house will be destroyed."

But neighbours on Chemin Fraser said they will take legal action if the house stays.

Jan-Erik Nyhuus said he realized after construction began that the giant house would not be a fit on his street.

"It was not going to be a house that was a comfort to the eye — and it isn't," he said.

'The city is going to lose'

The house has been a source of jokes and contention among neighbours, and could ultimately be a financial drain on the City of Gatineau, Nyhuus said.

"I don't knock the house. I think it's a lovely 21st-century dwelling. And I don't knock the owners," he said.

"I sure as heck am not knocking council for this, but you've been put between a rock and a hard place. Either way this goes, the city is going to lose."

Gatineau city council is expected to vote on the future of the home on July 8.