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If Capone did indeed retreat to the Couderay property, there was plenty of game to hunt, and the lakes are famous for fishing. Animal pelts and elk heads decorated the walls. The antique furniture captured the wooded Wisconsin lifestyle, Ferguson said. The lodge, which the owners claims has the original Capone furnishings, was cozy, he recalled. "There was an open staircase going up to the second floor and a second-floor balcony." "It was a very nice place," said Ferguson, who visited the property several times when it was open to tourists.

More likely, Ferguson said, Capone's brother, Ralph, who was in charge of soda bottling plants, lived on the property at some time. Jim Ferguson, vice president of the Sawyer County Historical Society, said there is no hard evidence that Capone visited the property, though some locals say they spotted Capone in their community. State University of New York at Oswego professor emeritus Luciano Iorizzo, who wrote "Al Capone: A Biography" in 2003, said he has never come across evidence that Capone visited the Wisconsin hideout. Because he operated an illegal business, there are few written documents with clues on where he spent his time, historians say. No one can say for certain whether Al Capone ever stayed in the Wisconsin lodge. The rural locations were ideal because Capone's rivals wouldn't travel that far to hunt him down, Lurigio said. Capone found respite at properties in Indiana, Michigan and Florida, too. Lurigio said the Wisconsin hideout was probably just one of many retreats. "He had already escaped death several times." "He wanted to get away from his enemies," Lurigio explained. Lurigio, a professor of criminology at Loyola University Chicago, who is also working on a documentary and book about organized crime in Chicago.

He ruthlessly relied on intimidation, bribes and violence, according to gangster lore.Įven some state and local law enforcement officers turned a blind eye when Capone's gang committed crimes, leaving the feds to chase him, historians say.īut life as a crime kingpin brought a growing list of enemies, said Arthur J. With his expensive suits, wide-brimmed fedora and cigar, the gangster who relished the media spotlight became the face of lawlessness during the Prohibition era.įrom 1925 to 1931, Capone was Chicago's most notorious organized-crime boss.

Since bank officials announced a few weeks ago that Capone's hideaway was for sale, the news has traveled across the country - and the world. Neither Houston nor the property owner's attorney, Todd Smith, could be reached by CNN. He added that at least 100 buyers have expressed interest. "There has been a ton of interest since we ran the article," said Joe Kinnear, vice president of Chippewa Valley Bank in Wisconsin. There is a separate facility that resembles a jail on site. The lodge is fortified with stone walls at least a foot thick and a guard tower. Visitors paid a few dollars for a walking tour of Capone's reputed hideout. The Houston family purchased the property in the 1950s and transformed the home into a tourist spot. owner Guy Houston, went into foreclosure in April 2008. The Tribune ad was placed in September by the Chippewa Valley Bank. The property includes a 37-acre lake and eight-car garage. It will be auctioned Thursday on the steps of the Sawyer County Courthouse, three hours from Minneapolis, Minnesota, according to an ad in the Chicago Tribune. The two-story stone lodge, tucked away on 407 acres in Couderay, Wisconsin, was owned by the Capone family in the 1920s. A Wisconsin lodge that may have been one of Capone's old hideouts goes on the auction block this week with a starting bid of $2.6 million.