House for sale — clowns not included
Brantford bungalow hides colourfully extensive collection behind its plain exterior
From the street, the two-bedroom home on sale in Brantford seems unremarkable — until you see all the clowns inside.
The house at 222 Chatham St., described as a “charming brick bungalow on a quiet street close to schools and parks” is listed at $239,900, clowns not included.
But realtor Kyle Jansink isn’t clowning around when he said it will likely sell above asking, with the amount of interest it’s scared up.
The family’s clown collection spans across every room in the house, as the photos on the realtor.ca website show. There are porcelain clown dolls, a clown riding a bike, a clown on a swing, clown magnets, Ronald McDonald clowns, clown artwork hung on the walls, clown wallpaper and even a clown statue standing like a butler in the corner of the dining room.
In the living room, clowns are sprawled out on their own miniature chairs, clusters of clowns squeeze in together on larger chairs and glass cabinets are stuffed with even more clowns.
“If I had to guess, there’s maybe 1,500,” said Michael McMannis, 59, whose mother and her common-law partner are selling the home. “Just don’t move one, or else (my mother) knows,” he added.
McMannis has never lived in the home himself, but his mother and her partner have spent the last 30 plus years there, and the last 25 years collecting clowns. The collection began as a weekend activity for the homeowners, but McMannis said he doesn’t have a clue why they picked clowns to collect.
“That I will never know. I have no idea,” he laughed. “Maybe because there’s so many and they’re so cheap.”
What he does know is that it was a fun activity for them. They’d go out every weekend to find a clown they liked that they didn’t already own.
McMannis’s mother and her partner, who are in their 80s, will be moving in with him and his wife after the house is sold. As for whether the clowns will be moving in too, McMannis says only “a few” will make the cut. He, unlike his mother and her partner, isn’t a fan of clowns.