Capone's old hideout near Hayward sold to bank

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Chicago gangster Al Capone’s old hideout near Hayward was sold Thursday to the bank which foreclosed on it last year.

The Chippewa Valley Bank was the only bidder willing to pay the minimum price of $2.6 million at a brief sheriff’s sale.

Bank vice president Joe Kinnear says at least four people want to buy the 407 wooded acres, possibly to make it tourist site and restaurant it used to be.

But nobody has offered the $2.6 million asking price, and Kinnear says the bank might have its hands full selling the property.

But he says somebody will buy it, and he hopes it can happen within the next three months.

According to legend, Capone used the hideout and a 37-acre lake to help deliver bootleg alcohol to Chicago’s speakeasys in the days of Prohibition.

The house has walls 18-inches thick, with two guard towers that supposedly alerted Capone to gangsters with machine guns.

Guy Houston’s family ran a seasonal bar and restaurant on the site, with guided Capone tours.

But the bank foreclosed last April. Houston still has until Oct. 28 to settle a debt on the site.

Tags: al capone, wisconsin, hideout, hayward