Upscale living at less than six figures a month

Looking for a bigger home? A better view? Ten or 11 more bathrooms? Then this is the deal for you: A 28,500-square-foot manse with 13 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a 10-car garage and three docks on the Spokane River. A saltwater pool. A tennis court. A home theater. The sale listing compares it to Disneyland.

“It’s incredible,” says real estate agent John Beutler.

All for a monthly mortgage payment of $83,000 and change. Get it before the market corrects.

At $20 million, the mansion on the river may not be the most expensive waterfront home ever sold in Kootenai County. But if it’s not, Beutler hasn’t heard of the pricier one. Even Duane Hagadone’s Stanley Hill house – originally listed at $27 mil – is priced at $17 million.

“Three or four million around here is a lot of money for a house,” Beutlersaid.

The mansion is sometimes known as “the Amway home.” It was built in the mid-1990s by Ron and Georgia Lee Puryear, a local couple who made a fortune in Amway and related businesses. The Puryears did not want to be interviewed, but Beutler said they decided to sell it for estate purposes.

“They just want to simplify,” he said.

The gargantuan home has not been the Puryears’ primary residence for many years; it seemed to exist mostly as an example to Amway strivers of all they could achieve. The couple wrote about their home on the website of a company they formed, World Wide Dream Builders:

“Ron had a vision several years ago. He wanted to build a masterpiece not just for his family, but for all World Wide Dream Builders IBOs (independent business owners), as a testament to how dreams can and do come true.

“Over the years, Ron’s dream has become a reality. What is now called ‘The Riverhouse’ is a grandiose family compound … on view acreage above the Spokane River. The Riverhouse has four separate residences (for he and Georgia Lee, each of their two children’s families, and a full-time resident overseer), a weight room, private theater, virtual skeet-shooting and golf, outdoor putting green, a basketball court, tennis court, and a pool area that rivals any luxury resort.

“But like most dreams, this one needed to be shared. That’s why they open their home to all IBOs who meet the ‘River Rendezvous’ qualifications. Why? Because dreams do come true, and the Puryears believe in sharing theirs.”

Websites that go aggressively after Amway – accusing it of being a pyramid scheme or even a cult – have noted that several other bigwigs associated with the company have put homes on the market recently, though none even close to as lavish as this one.

The direct-marketing company has always been a target for controversy. The Puryears are now among several defendants in a class-action lawsuit in California accusing Quixtar (the name of the company for the last several years) and several individuals of running a fraudulent pyramid scheme. In essence, the claim says Amway rewards people for recruiting other salespeople, not for selling products – meaning that the people at the top make a lot but that most Amway distributors don’t make anything.

Amway denies these claims, and it notes that the feds ruled more than 30 years ago that it was not a pyramid scheme. From its website:

“A pyramid looks a lot like a multi-level marketing (MLM) business, but it’s really very different. A pyramid focuses on selling memberships while a true multi-level marketing business focuses on selling products … ”

All of which may have nothing at all to do with the home at 216 S. Parkwood Place – aka your next home. Have I mentioned the basketball court and home theater? An outdoor kitchen area that is larger than most indoor kitchens? The chandeliers and golden drapes?

Beutler says the pictures of the home online don’t do it justice. He listed the home for sale in August, and he’s had a few legitimate inquiries and one offer, he said. He said selling a house like that will likely take years.

It’s a nice place. Nicer, surely, than the home just up the river going for $8.3million, or the several others in the $2million range.

But maybe those prices are still a bit high for you, recession and all. Don’t despair.

A river view may still be within your reach – call it a river view for me and you.

Less than two miles west of The Riverhouse, there’s a more modest listing. Views of the river. A quiet neighborhood. Fenced yard. Deck. Air conditioning.

It’s a mobile home, and it’s listed at $10,000.

Buy it now, and use what you’ve got left to add bathrooms.