( CNN ) -- Al Capone 's legend of bootlegging , gangland slayings and tax evasion lives on more than 60 years after the Chicago gangster 's death . Now comes a footnote that is a sign of the times : foreclosure . Al Capone 's former Wisconsin hideaway goes on the auction block on Thursday . A Wisconsin lodge that may have been one of Capone 's old hideouts goes on the auction block this week with a starting bid of $ 2.6 million . The two-story stone lodge , tucked away on 407 acres in Couderay , Wisconsin , was owned by the Capone family in the 1920s . It will be auctioned Thursday on the steps of the Sawyer County Courthouse , three hours from Minneapolis , Minnesota , according to an ad in the Chicago Tribune . The property includes a 37-acre lake and eight-car garage . The Tribune ad was placed in September by the Chippewa Valley Bank . The property , owned by Hideout Inc. owner Guy Houston , went into foreclosure in April 2008 . The Houston family purchased the property in the 1950s and transformed the home into a tourist spot . Visitors paid a few dollars for a walking tour of Capone 's reputed hideout . iReport.com : More views of Capone 's compound . The lodge is fortified with stone walls at least a foot thick and a guard tower . There is a separate facility that resembles a jail on site . `` There has been a ton of interest since we ran the article , '' said Joe Kinnear , vice president of Chippewa Valley Bank in Wisconsin . He added that at least 100 buyers have expressed interest . Neither Houston nor the property owner 's attorney , Todd Smith , could be reached by CNN . Since bank officials announced a few weeks ago that Capone 's hideaway was for sale , the news has traveled across the country -- and the world . The property holds enormous nostalgic value , Kinnear said . After all , he noted , Al Capone 's name is closely associated with Chicago , Illinois . `` This guy really has incredible fame power , '' said John Russick , senior curator at the Chicago History Museum . `` He became this icon for a whole profession of underworld figures , and people are fascinated with that . '' With his expensive suits , wide-brimmed fedora and cigar , the gangster who relished the media spotlight became the face of lawlessness during the Prohibition era . From 1925 to 1931 , Capone was Chicago 's most notorious organized-crime boss . He ruthlessly relied on intimidation , bribes and violence , according to gangster lore . Even some state and local law enforcement officers turned a blind eye when Capone 's gang committed crimes , leaving the feds to chase him , historians say . But life as a crime kingpin brought a growing list of enemies , said Arthur J. Lurigio , a professor of criminology at Loyola University Chicago , who is also working on a documentary and book about organized crime in Chicago . `` He wanted to get away from his enemies , '' Lurigio explained . `` He had already escaped death several times . '' Lurigio said the Wisconsin hideout was probably just one of many retreats . Capone found respite at properties in Indiana , Michigan and Florida , too . The rural locations were ideal because Capone 's rivals would n't travel that far to hunt him down , Lurigio said . No one can say for certain whether Al Capone ever stayed in the Wisconsin lodge . Because he operated an illegal business , there are few written documents with clues on where he spent his time , historians say . State University of New York at Oswego professor emeritus Luciano Iorizzo , who wrote `` Al Capone : A Biography '' in 2003 , said he has never come across evidence that Capone visited the Wisconsin hideout . Jim Ferguson , vice president of the Sawyer County Historical Society , said there is no hard evidence that Capone visited the property , though some locals say they spotted Capone in their community . More likely , Ferguson said , Capone 's brother , Ralph , who was in charge of soda bottling plants , lived on the property at some time . `` It was a very nice place , '' said Ferguson , who visited the property several times when it was open to tourists . `` There was an open staircase going up to the second floor and a second-floor balcony . '' The lodge , which the owners claims has the original Capone furnishings , was cozy , he recalled . The antique furniture captured the wooded Wisconsin lifestyle , Ferguson said . Animal pelts and elk heads decorated the walls . If Capone did indeed retreat to the Couderay property , there was plenty of game to hunt , and the lakes are famous for fishing . According to historians , the 6-foot-tall , 200-pound crime boss enjoyed outdoor sports . He was an amateur athlete who began boxing in his adolescence and battled top fighters of the time , including Lou Ordoni and Babe Lancaster . Henry Binford , a professor of history at Northwestern University , theorizes that the hideout was a stopover in the transportation of liquor to Chicago during Prohibition . It 's rumored among locals that planes from Canada that were filled with alcohol docked on the small lake . `` Being an ostensible businessman , he had a lot of channels of supply , '' said Binford , who points out that the lodge is located close to the Canadian border . Capone 's illegal activities caught up with him in the 1930s . His most infamous mob war , the 1929 Saint Valentine 's Day Massacre in Chicago that killed seven rivals , further enticed federal agents to catch him . In 1931 , he was convicted of tax evasion and sent to Alcatraz prison in California . This summer , when the hideout tours were shut down , Leslie Strapon , assistant executive director of the Hayward Chamber of Commerce , said her office received hundreds of calls from disappointed tourists . `` Everyone is patiently waiting to see what 's going to happen with the place , '' she said . `` It would be nice if it fell into the hands of someone who was wiling to reopen and carry on the tradition . ''
Wisconsin lodge is up for sale this week . Starting bid on 407-acre property is $ 2.6 million . Property comes with a two - story lodge , a garage , cabins and 37-acre lake . Historians and bank say public association with Capone is piquing buyers ' interest .