OTTAWA — When Mike Fisher married American Idol-winning country superstar Carrie Underwood in July 2010, Senators fans were wowed by the glamour, but feared the much-loved hockey player would soon be lured away from Ottawa. Less than a season later, Fisher was Nashville-bound, traded to the Predators to join his bride in the country music capital and leaving behind nothing but a heartfelt open letter to his fans.
Well, almost nothing: fans were left to hope the roots Fisher and Underwood put down here — namely, a custom-built home in Carp — would be enough to draw the pair back to town in the offseasons.
But with the May 2 listing of that home for sale, it seems the curtain truly has fallen on the brief era when country music royalty came to Ottawa.
Built in 2010, the two-storey, five-bedroom, five-bathroom house located at 1135 Spruce Ridge Road is listed for $2.2 million. Sitting on an 11-acre lot, the house with its stone accents boasts a triple car garage, an all-season enclosed porch, a wine cellar, home theatre, wet bar and gym. The property has been listed by Brian Eustace, sales representative and selling partner at Paul Rushforth Real Estate Incorporated, who declined to comment.
About 35 realtors toured the property at an midday open house for agents Wednesday, only granted entrance after going through security.
Joanne Goneau, the broker of record and owner of Remax Absolute Realty, participated in the walk-through with team members Jennifer Carroll and Jordyn Reid-Stevenson. That the property once belonged to Ottawa’s foremost it-couple helped draw a big crowd for the open house, said Goneau.
“I went there because I have another home that’s comparable to it, so I was going there to see the competition. My partner came to see the closets.�
Goneau’s take on the house: the use of stone and staged furniture offered a warm, rustic feeling, but with modern amenitites, reminding her of the upscale properties at Mont Tremblant, Que.. But compared to properties in similar locations with similar acreage, Goneau said she thinks the house is overpriced, banking on the owners’ celebrity status.
“I don’t know that that’s going to bring more value to them, unless you get some crazy buyer that’s just excited. I’ve heard (Fisher) owns surrounding lots and he’s not planning on selling (them), so maybe somebody will buy it thinking eventually they’ll be neighbors.�
After playing 11 seasons with the Senators, it’s conceivable Peterborough native Fisher might again want a place in the area in the future. But of course, said Goneau, Fisher isn’t the only attraction.
“I think it was Carrie Underwood. I heard the stories about how he proposed to her in the field and people were commenting about the two laundry rooms, one on each floor, that kind of stuff.�
Fisher fan Bill Martin, a seller with Century 21 John DeVries Limited, brought his daughter Stephanie, a Carrie Underwood fan, to the showing. Agreeing the property is unlikely to sell in a hurry because of the high price point, Martin said realtor Eustace did a good job playing down the house’s famous owners, never mentioning their names and simply saying the owner had “moved for work.�
“Everyone was respectful,� said Martin. “It wasn’t a frenzy.�
The only obvious indication the house belonged to a former Senator, he said, was in the wine fridge: a 64-ounce bottle of beer from Big Rig, the local brewery owned by Senators defenceman Chris Phillips.
With files from Drake Fenton