Alabama's largest mansion comes with a history almost as dramatic as the home itself.

When Larry House first began to build this estate in the mid-1990s, he was riding the crest of the success wave. House would make and lose a fortune in just a few years, all while working with his friend Richard Scrushy, who would end up in prison on multiple counts of fraud at his company, HealthSouth.

House made millions beginning in 1992 when he took Scrushy's MedPartners from a startup physician-management company with a $1 million investment to a Fortune 500 company. He soon began construction of his 34,000-square-foot Birmingham home with 22 bathrooms and a giant guitar-shaped front yard.

But a $7 billion buyout of MedPartners that would have made House more than $80 million fell apart when the company's questionable business practices were discovered. In 1997, House went through an expensive divorce and MedPartners lost $821 million. He lost everything else in 1998 when MedPartners stock fell almost 50 percent in one day.

House tried to sell the guitar home to cover his debts but Alabama mega mansions have a limited buyer's pool. With no takers, it was put up for auction in 2003 bringing only $3.95 million, not meeting the reserve against the more than $30 million invested in it.

Now for the second time, it will go on the auction block Oct. 31, this time selling with no reserve.

Located just outside of Birmingham in the gated Shoal Creek golf community, the house has 15 bedrooms and sits on 27 acres. It took five people a year-and-a-half just to apply the gold leaf throughout the house.

Highlights include his-and-her master wings, a 25-seat theater with a 170-inch screen and ticket booth, large wine cellar, office space on the lower level, an elegant estate manager's home and a well-outfitted equestrian center with large stable, paddocks and pastures.

The Shoal Creek Country Club offers a Jack Nicklaus-designed course with lakes for canoeing and fishing.

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