CAROLYN IRELAND From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published Friday, May. 04, 2012 11:21PM EDT Last updated Friday, May. 04, 2012 11:30PM EDT

Real estate in Torontos Beaches neighbourhood is striding toward a new milestone: A grand house on the shore of Lake Ontario hit the market this week with an asking price of $8-million.

Even the owner had trouble seeing the potential when he bought the higgledy-piggledy property for $2.8-million in 2007.

Back then, the 1920s estate had long been carved up into six apartments and allowed to fall into disrepair. Today, 412 Lake Front is a luxurious beachfront refuge with a putting green, wine-tasting room and a swimming pool with walls of glass.

The owner is a businessman who splits his time between Canada and the United States and asked that his name not be used. He searched for several years for a house on the water and chose this one for its unique position on the shore.

The land juts out from all of the surrounding houses like a peninsula, so it almost feels like living on an island, he says.

The property is co-listed with real estate agent Thomas Neal of Royal LePage Estate Realty in the Beaches and Sam McDadi of ReMax Performance Realty Inc. in Mississauga.

Mr. Neal acknowledges that the asking price has raised some eyebrows in a neighbourhood where the previous high was about $3.8-million for a house that was not on the water. Along the shore, sales in the $3.7-million range have been made for a vacant lot or a house in need of a complete overhaul.

Mr. Neal said the owner spent about $4-million to transform 412 Lake Front.

The Beach is growing up, Mr. Neal said. Ive been around long enough to know when $1-million was a lot.

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Beaches property's $8-million price tag a new high for neighbourhood