Florida Mansion With Panic Rooms to be Auctioned

For those who jump at shadows: an opulent mansion with seven panic rooms and a secret staircase goes on the block this week in Florida.

Bidding opens Friday on the 8,125 square foot (750 square meter) villa in Homestead, Florida.

It has seven bedrooms and the same number of panic rooms, fortified spaces built so residents can safely hide during a home invasion.

The house also has a secret staircase enabling them to enter or leave surreptitiously.

"The seller just started with one safe room, he had so much fun making it, he made a second one, then a third one. He got carried away," said Jim Gall, head of the Auction Company of America which is handling the three day auction.

The minimum bid has been set at $1 million.

Included are the villa's contents: works of art, furniture, a 1984 Mercedes-Benz convertible, Oriental rugs, and statues.

The grounds feature a swimming pool, tennis courts, a soccer pitch, a koi pond and even a 27-foot-high (eight meter) scale model of the Washington Monument.