The price of a West Vancouver waterfront property has gone up from $30-million to $38-million even though it failed to sell when first listed in 2011.

Adding to this jaw-dropping news is the fact that the agent with the listing says the 5,500-square-foot home itself “has no value” — the buyer would undoubtedly tear down the home and start afresh, since the house is “very, very dated” and has not been upgraded.

The details could describe many houses in Canada: Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two wood-burning fireplaces and a south-facing yard. But this one also has minarets, gold flourishes in abundance, lots of shining marble and mirrors, and a picture window sized for an airport terminal.

Built in 1964 for a shipping magnate with exotic tastes — and perhaps a penchant for spying on which ships came in through the Burrard Inlet — it seems a mashup of today’s suburban stucco style and U.K.’s 19th-century Brighton Pavilion.

So why the 30% price hike? The value of the listing, the agents say, is in the land. There’s 400 feet of waterfront, and since it has the potential to be subdivided into three parcels, according to Re/Max Masters’ Laura McLaren, the real estate agent handling the listing along with George Tsavdaris, it is worth more. In fact, they maintain that “the value is in the 180-degree breathtaking views of the city, harbour, Point Grey and out along the mighty Georgia Strait to Vancouver Island.”

The new buyer could redevelop the site to fit three houses of 8,000-sq.-ft. each, with triple car garages, infinity pools and up to 32-foot boat garages. See the listing here.