Unfinished Marshbanks mansion/barndominium now offered for sale at record price (2024)

Reclaimed beams from Texas, pictured in this simulated photograph, are part of the charm of The Plainsman, the elaborate mansion that was being built by Aaron Marshbanks before he was found dead. The picture is "simulated" because the structure is still under construction, and is not expected to be fully completed for a year. (Courtesy NextHome Integrity)

LINCOLN – A mansion being built by a local businessman implicated in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud case has a new name and a record-high price.

The partly finished luxury home and “barndominium” being built by Aaron Marshbanks in east Lincoln is now called “The Plainsman” and, when mostly finished, is being offered for sale at $6.469 million.

That is the highest advertised selling price for a residence right now — by more than $1 million — by Realtors in eastern Nebraska, including Lincoln and Omaha. If it’s sold for that price, it would set a record for the top price for a residence in the Capital City by nearly $3 million.

One of the agents handling the sale emphasized that the home has been named “The Plainsman” to reflect that it is no longer owned by Marshbanks. Its construction is being completed, with some modifications, to make it more marketable.

“We can have it blessed, we can have it staged. Every house is a ‘house’ until someone makes it a ‘home,'” said Karalyn Hoefer of NextHome Integrity.

“This is no longer the Marshbanks residence,” she said. “This is now The Plainsman, and we’re moving forward.”

The $6.469 million price is based on completing construction of the 4,769-square-foot main house, both inside and out, which is expected to take a year. The exterior of a nearly 9,000-square-foot “barndominium”/guest cottage on the five-acre plot will be finished, but the interior will remain uncompleted – as will a planned outdoor swimming pool – so the next buyer can decide how to customize it, Hoefer said.

Among the opulent features of the main home are 28-foot-high ceilings in the main living room, stone from Belgium, reclaimed bricks from a church, reclaimed beams from Texas, iron doors fabricated in Nebraska, gas lanterns produced in New Orleans and a “subterranean,” cave-like cellar billed as a cigar/whiskey room and wine cellar.

“This is a one-of-a-kind property that hopefully a family or business or an entity will see the absolute gorgeousness of the setting,” she said. “It is one of the most incredible homes in the Midwest.”

Marshbanks, 45, died of a drug overdose in November 2022, leaving behind a wife and four children. Despite the discovery of a suspected suicide note, officials ruled that his cause of death was “undetermined.”

What was determined, in the weeks after his death, was that he had defrauded dozens of banks in Nebraska and Iowa out of well over $30 million, using counterfeit financial statements to obtain several unsecured operating loans of more than $2 million each.

The revelations left bankers questioning how the ambitious young businessman, with ties to Lincoln’s fundamental Christian community and a charity devoted to attacking human trafficking, could have bamboozled them out of so much money.

At least part of the ill-gotten money was used toward the construction of a luxury home just east of Lincoln, near Walton, to replace the Marshbanks family’s relatively modest residence in central Lincoln.

Marshbanks, a former basketball star at Lincoln Christian High School who regularly worked out, designed the property to include an indoor basketball court and workout area in the barndominium (a combination barn and residence). There were rumors that the “cave” area, below the basem*nt, was intended to be used to mine cryptocurrency, because it was fitted with a substantial circulation system, and because there are suspicions that Marshbanks lost heavily in bitcoin investments prior to his death.

Hoefer told the Examiner that the crypto mining rumor was one of the “mistruths” she wanted to clear up about the property.

She said she doubted that was the intent of the cave, adding that one of the primary goals now is to complete construction of the space, which features hand-laid Belgian marble.

The unfinished house and barndominium/guest house sat vacant for months after Marshbanks died.

TheCity Bank & Trust of Lincoln, which had loaned him $2.5 million to build the structures, eventually won back ownership of the acreage. It was sold in September 2023 for $2 million toAtch Investments, a limited liability company based in the northwest Iowa farm town of Ocheyedan, population 430.

Hoefer said the firm consists of two investors, one from Iowa and one from Lincoln, who were “willing to take a chance.” They immediately conducted a “top to bottom” inspection and evaluation of the property, to discern what construction was still needed.

Several aspects of the mechanics of the home had to be corrected, she said, and the floor plan was modified in some areas — for instance, to provide a larger closet/bathroom space for the main bedroom — to make it more marketable. Garage doors, which had already been paid for, had to be located.

About $750,000 has been spent so far on modifications to the heating, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing systems,according to Hoefer, adding that other changeswere made to the floor plan to “make it more user friendly and even more of a showcase than it was.”

“It was a very unique home that was personalized,” she said.

Hoefer said if someone wanted to purchase the house as is, it would be sold at a lower price, which would be subject to negotiations. The full asking price assumes completion of the main house, she said, and is based on three appraisals.

The garage doors, Hoefer said, are expected to be installed in the next couple of weeks, with drywall to be hung this fall.

The next owner, she said, can decide what to do with the barndominium — an indoor pickleball court? A site for yoga retreats? Or a sculptor’s studio? The property also has room for a swimming pool and a sizable area for a backyard pond.

“It’s your own private oasis,” Hoefer said.

Originally published on nebraskaexaminer.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.