Safe Bet: $400K Bulletproof Home in Ohio Lands Multiple Offers

We’re all familiar with safe rooms, but have you ever heard of a bulletproof home?

Even the honest description in the listing doesn’t entirely make sense of what’s going on inside this three-bedroom, armored abode in Maumee, OH.

The listing notes, “The strangest and greatest potential I have ever seen.”

Indeed, it’s odd: The home’s entire interior is eerily shielded with panels of bulletproof Lexan.

“It’s a fascinating property,” acknowledges listing agent Jon Modene, of RE/MAX Masters. “The owner, Trudy Stranahan, was a recluse who was worth $54 million when she passed away about a year or so ago.”

She was said to be related to the family who founded Champion Spark Plug Company, according to Modene.

Despite her abundant net worth, Stranahan apparently lived very simply inside the mostly windowless space that almost resembles solitary confinement.

“When she ordered concrete for the driveway, she only wanted the best and spent more than $300,000,” Modene reveals. “She also spent about $200,000 in equipment for her home gym—and $100,000 for fencing around the property.”

Built in 1953 and originally designed by architect Ralph J. Nopper, the unique residence is said to have been outfitted with the pricey Lexan a few years ago by Stranahan.

At one time, the property even boasted an Olympic-size swimming pool in the backyard. Stranahan had it filled in, though.

“Trudy was estranged from her family and lived in a bunker,” Modene notes. “My photographer said it seems like a scene out of the movie ‘Saw.’ Even her sewing table was made out of Lexan. I think it was the indestructible part that appealed to her so much that no one could break in.”

Despite being designed to deflect bullets, the 3,355-square-foot shielded structure surprisingly does not have a security system in place.

“What’s interesting to note is there are no windows, and she didn’t have security or even an alarm system,” Modene says. “It’s a beautiful lot overlooking a private lake, but there are no windows to enjoy the view. There were no pictures in the home. She was without a computer and without a cell phone. I believe it may have been a lifelong condition of hers.”

Naturally, a home outfitted with such protection might suggest that the neighborhood is less than safe, right?

Wrong, actually, Modene reports.

“It is located in a very low-crime neighborhood,” he says. “The house sits on a hidden street with no through traffic. It backs up to a regional park (Side Cut Metropark), with a private lake called Silver Lake with lots of bike trails. She really has a private lake right in her backyard, so that alone is worth a lot.”

In addition to the main residence, the 5-acre lot also has a separate building that houses a fitness center.

“She worked out every day in her gym,” Modene says of the custom-built space that was heated and air conditioned.

Despite the home’s unusual design, multiple offers have already rolled in.

“Most people are interested in remodeling it or completely tearing it down,” Modene says.

And as the listing insists, the property is “absolutely worth a look”—even if just to satisfy your curiosity.