From the outside, the mansion at 11610 Highland Farm Road in Potomac, Maryland looks like any other luxury home, with a stately red brick facade, well-maintained grounds, and multiple chimneys and gables.
Once you get past the dramatic entrance and pass through the elaborate foyer, there's plenty of more luxury inside, including a plushly decorated living room, a music room outfitted with a Steinway piano, and a fully-stocked library. Upstairs are five bedrooms with en suite bathrooms. In the backyard, there's a heated pool, a lit tennis court, and a guest house with an additional two bedrooms.
However, it's the lower level of the 12,000-square-foot home that holds the real surprise.
In the gigantic basement — which measures about 32 feet by 38 feet according to floor plans — there is a quaint, fully-decorated Main Street, complete with realistic facades, working cars and genuine cobblestone roads.
According to the real estate listing, there are 15 "storefront facades" in the basement, including a sporting goods store, a movie theater advertising a double feature of "The Exorcist" and "Mary Poppins," a post office and an inn. Inside the inn is a real, functioning bathroom. Only one other functioning room is downstairs — a TV room, complete with a billiards table, TV set and working fireplace.
According to Lori Leasure, one of the realtors selling the home, the village — which is usually decked out with Christmas decorations including gingerbread men, pine trees and poinsettias — was built by the home's original owner.
"It's an interesting owner, he's kind of a funny guy," Leasure told TODAY. "He has a very interesting sense of humor, and he wanted something different in his basement. He wanted to make it fun."
Leasure said that in addition to the bathroom and TV room, there's also a hidden garage entrance that allows the owner of the home to move vehicles in and out of the basement. Photos on the listing show two vintage-style cars sitting on the village streets, along with a motorcycle.
"He loves cars," Leasure added. "(The cars) are amazing. They're actual working cars."
Leasure said that the owner, who has three children, joked that it was the perfect place to host parties.
"When they were growing up, in their teen years, this was a fun place to have parties," she said. "He always joked to me that they could have parties down there and he could just kind of hose down the basement floor when they were done. It's just a really fun place."
After the kids moved out, Leasure said that the village became the perfect place for Christmas parties and other get-togethers.
The home has been on the market for a little over a year, according to Leasure and it was originally listed last spring. Currently, the luxurious home is available for $4.5 million, but Leasure said there have been no offers on the property yet despite multiple showings.
The owner owns a second home in Easton, Maryland that Leasure said had another interesting feature: This home, available for $15 million, has a real airplane mounted to the rafters of the living room.
"One of his hobbies is flying; he's a pilot," said Leasure. "It's unbelievable. It's really unbelievable. He just loves to do fun stuff like that."
Leasure said the second home has recently had an influx in interest, after only a few showings in the past year, and currently has an offer on the table.