Conseco King's Sprawling Indiana Mansion Up for Auction

A 55,000-square-foot mansion set for auction next month would easily fetch the $9.9 million previous asking price if it were in Carmel, Calif., instead of Carmel, Ind.

But there it sits in Indiana, a 36-room home called Le Chateau Renaissance, built by Conseco insurance company founder Stephen Hilbert and his wife, Tomisue Hilbert, for $35 million. It took five years to build and was completed in 1994, but the couple lost ownership when Stephen Hilbert didn't repay money he borrowed from his company, which has since been renamed CNO Financial Group.

Hilbert told his hometown newspaper that he may bid on the home, which has a mural on the entryway's domed ceiling that includes his likeness as a Greek god.

"Until they paint it over, I'll have the pleasure of looking down and watching what they do with the place," Hilbert told the paper.