Perched on a hill and propped up on stilts overlooking the intersection of Ainslie and Water streets sits a home that's nearly impossible to miss, and it could be yours for $1.7 million.
The Grand House is for sale, 15 years after it was purpose built as student housing for the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture.
"Architecture students design many hypothetical projects during their years at school, but only a few fortunate ones have the opportunity to design a real-scale project and plan and raise money to build it," says the student co-op on the Grand House website.
Back when the School of Architecture moved to Cambridge in 2004, there was no student housing in the city. The problem gave students a chance to design and build the solution; a home for themselves and future students of the program.
The impressive structure on Roseview Avenue overlooks Ainslie Street with views of the Grand River. Its prominent stilts, wooden staircase and cantilevered structure make it one-of-a-kind architectural marvel.
The energy-efficient house was being used as student housing as recently as last year and features 13 bedrooms, two washrooms with 4,600 square feet of living space.
Current owner Nadir Ansari is an entrepreneur from Mississauga who originally helped the students solve issues they were facing when they were designing the home's unique foundation.
Ansari purchased the property back in 2012 when the house was listed for $698,800, after falling into financial trouble.
During that time, the student co-op was dissolved and the house was put up for sale. When Ansari learned of this, he purchased the property to breathe new life into a home deeply rooted in the community.
The property has been listed for 28 days.
