What’s Misnyland like? We got a tour of Tim Misny’s 80-acre estate.
View the full Akron Beacon Journal Article below!
Attorney Tim Misny grew up in a one-bedroom bungalow in Euclid, where the houses were just far enough apart for a car to fit between them.
He now lives in a 16,000-square-foot mansion with a bowling alley in the basement in Lake County’s upscale Waite Hill.
The house is part of an 80-acre estate dubbed Misnyland by its owner, who has become famous for his commercials and billboards that promise accident victims: “I’ll make them pay!”
In case visitors aren’t sure if they’re in the right place, the estate’s name is on a mailbox they pass before driving through an automated gate.
A sign welcomes visitors to Misnyland, attorney Tim Misny’s 80-acre estate in the Lake County’s posh Waite Hill.
Misny recently gave the Beacon Journal a tour of the grounds of his estate, including a look inside his hunting lodge. Here are highlights from the visit.
Misny bought 80-acre estate three decades ago
Misny bought the estate 30 years ago after settling a big wrongful-death lawsuit. The sprawling property includes the mansion and much smaller hunting lodge, an enclosed pool house and a baseball diamond.
Misny was a bachelor when he bought the property, which, along with the buildings, is currently valued at nearly $1.7 million, according to the Lake County Auditor’s website.
Tim Misny:Who’s the man behind the raised eyebrow and ‘make them pay’ promise?
“Why do you have such a big house?” people would ask him.
“Because I can,” he’d answer.
Misny now lives on the sprawling estate with his wife, Stephanie, and their three kids – Max, 15, and twins Gus and Ruby, who are 11. They share the space with occasional visitors, two dogs, chickens and honeybees.
Misny drove his Beacon Journal visitors through the estate in a truck that doubles as a “dad-mobile” on weekends, with wrappers and crumbs left behind by his kids. When the weather is nice, he gives tours on a golf cart or via bicycles.
Misny pointed out features while winding through the hills. A spring that provides water for the property. A red-tailed hawk soaring overhead. A stream where he fishes for trout with his kids. A garden where he and his family pick fruits and vegetables.
The estate has street names that all have a story, including Lover’s Lane that is named for where Max was conceived.
Misny had what was once a horse barn converted into a pool house. He said it’s “toasty warm like a cocoon” in the winter. In the summer, the roof can be opened to let in the sunshine.
Misny regularly offers his social media followers a chance to attend an event at Misnyland, such as a cookout. He also offers the opportunity to people who contact him and ask, such as a man who said his 92-year-old mother had visiting the estate on her bucket list.
The estate has a country feel but is 23 minutes from downtown Cleveland and 30 minutes from the airport.
“You feel like you’re off the grid,” Misny said. “I find myself leaving less and less. If you want to see me, you know where to find me.”
Misny sign adorns fence in Misnyland
Misny’s estate wouldn’t be complete without one of the signs that helped propel him to fame.
“Stay Strong Ohio,” says the sign that hangs on a fence inside the estate — a smaller version of a billboard erected during the pandemic.
Misny stopped by the sign to allow a Beacon Journal photographer to take pictures of him in front of it.
He took off his winter hat, raised his eyebrow and pointed his finger, mimicking his signature pose.
Asked how this pose came about, Misny said he went to a studio about 20 years ago to have a new headshot done. The photographer asked, “Do you want to try anything else?” and Misny – who was relaxed from drinking a cold beer and listening to Motown music – raised his right eyebrow and pointed.
When Misny and his staff decided to start doing billboards, he told them, “I think I have a cool shot.”
That pose has now been used in dozens of billboard designs, as well as on merchandise that’s for sale on misnymerch.com, with the proceeds going to the City Mission, a homeless shelter in Cleveland.
Misny said his favorite billboard is one with a close-up of his eyes and his raised eyebrow.
Misny doesn’t hunt but loves his lodge
Inside the hunting lodge, Misny’s family takes center stage, with a collection of framed photos lining the walls in the entryway.
Misny pointed out his favorite – a photo of his three kids swimming and laughing.
“I have proof that my kids get along … for three seconds,” he said, laughing.
Misny, who doesn’t hunt or allow others to hunt on his property, clearly has an affinity for the lodge. It’s where he gives interviews, shoots videos for social media and has a home office.
“I walk in — and my blood pressure goes down,” he said.
Misny offered his guests water from the estate’s spring or tea with honey harvested from the bees on his property.
After preparing beverages, Misny settled in a chair by the large fireplace in the great room, ready to answer questions about his lengthy legal career and larger-than-life persona.
But first, a reporter wanted to know the story behind the 10-foot-tall giraffe statue that towers over the great room.
Misny said he saw the giraffe a few years ago while shopping with his family in Chicago. He asked the store clerk how much it was and she said it wasn’t for sale.
“Everything’s for sale,” he told her and asked to speak to her manager.
Misny brokered a deal that involved him making a sizeable donation to the manager’s favorite charity in exchange for the giraffe, which Misny’s property manager went to Chicago to fetch.
“It was in the great room before we got home,” Misny said.
Misny’s hunting lodge also features fake animal busts, lots of bear collectibles and even some of his own merch.
Misny explains his creed as tour concludes
After the interview, Misny gave a tour of the rest of the lodge, offering insight into a few of his prized possessions.
He held up a photo of him throwing out the first pitch at a Cleveland Guardian’s game, known as the Indians at the time, explaining that he had an upset stomach and was afraid he might have an accident on the pitcher’s mound. Thankfully that didn’t happen — and he threw a strike.
In a bathroom that features a large jacuzzi tub, Misny pointed to a framed President Theodore Roosevelt quote over a built-in urinal. He recited the quote from memory.
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
“That’s my creed,” Misny said.
