Rescue Me: Buyers Have Lined Up to Save This Historic Ohio Home

For $72,800 in Ohio, you can get a jump-start on your personal kingdom. Granted, you'll need additional cash to whip this ramshackle, yet intriguing, castle-like estate back into decent shape. You'll also need to bring your money in cash -- and expect some competition.

Located in the small river city of East Liverpool, the Cawood Residence is a one-of-a-kind property. Built in 1923 by a wealthy industrialist and architectural enthusiast, the 4,660-square-foot, four-bedroom house is an eclectic mashup of Spanish Mediterranean and Italian Renaissance architecture.

The home is not in good condition -- listing agent Marie Houston of Welcome Realty LLC will be the first person to tell you that. "It needs so much work. The utilities aren't even on You're buying it as-is," she says.

Some ceilings have holes; some Roman pillars are cracked. At least one window is boarded up, and the carpet needs replacing. In the exterior chapel (which has confessional booths!), the paint crumbles around an inlaid statue of the Virgin Mary and up to a wooden relief of Jesus surrounded by his followers.

The colorful mosaic tiles depicting a peacock in a bathroom need a good scrub, as do the home's various stained-glass windows -- some of which are located in the mansion's second, interior chapel.

One bathroom needs a sink, and if the ancient, gated elevator works, you probably wouldn't want to step in. In 2008, the house sustained fire damage in a three-alarm fire. Now a bank-owned property, the property has been vacant for about four years.

But none of that really matters, because this historic home clearly has potential. During an open house, Houston says, hundreds of visitors showed up to gawk and snap photos of East Liverpool's landmark property. We talked to Houston on the first day the home was open to offers; she said she already had five or six and expected more by the end of the day.

It might just be the most interesting fixer-upper in the entire Midwest.