Douglas Schuerman, listing agent for eXp Realty, recalls, "When I first walked in, I was amazed." The only word that came to mind was 'perfect'. Everything in this house is museum quality, absolutely perfect ...... There's nothing quite like it."

The Delong Estate is 24,253 square feet and is listed for $14.5 million.

It's one of the largest homes in the state, if not the largest.

"We believe it's certainly the largest home in Lexington, and we also believe it's still the largest home in Kentucky," Schuman said, adding that we're not sure if there are other larger buildings.

While the design appears to be hundreds of years old, the home only dates back to 2001.

Schuerman says, "It's modeled after English manor homes built in the 16th and 17th centuries." I think the original owner travelled around the world and looked at different English manor houses and homes with different characteristics, and then he put his ideas together and came up with this wonderful home."

Built of steel, concrete and Indiana limestone, it is built to last.

Schumann explains, "In today's market, it is simply not possible to build this home for anywhere near the asking price.

Since the original owner built the 50-room home in 2001, it has had two different owners.

The current owner purchased the property in 2019 for $4 million and began upgrading it, including refinishing or replacing more than 50 mahogany exterior doors.

At the time, Schuman said, "the house had been on the market for a while." The sellers invested a lot of money. They went through almost every aspect of the house, inside and out. That's why it's so well preserved today."

Most of the home's furnishings are part of this sale.

The master bedroom is located on the ground floor and there are five other bedrooms on the first floor, four of which have large balconies. Two other bedrooms are located on the third floor.

Also on the first floor is a flat of approximately 2,200 square feet with two large bedrooms, a full bathroom, a living room, kitchen, a laundry room and a dining room.

The residence sits on more than 10 acres of land, complete with landscaped gardens, a swimming pool and sports courts.

Schumann says, "The gardens are very nice with plenty of trees and landscaping." There is wisteria on a trellis by the pool and flowers everywhere.

It's picturesque and very private, with a gated private driveway.

Schumann says most of the other large homes in the area are below grade, but not this one.

"If you're entertaining guests," he explains, "you can walk from the kitchen all the way to the master bedroom through a spacious hallway." Most English manor houses are more enclosed, with many doors leading to different rooms. Here, on the other hand, it's very open."