BOSTON -- After spending $16 million to buy a palatial Brookline, Mass., estate complete with a main house and 5,000-square-foot guest house, Red Sox owner John Henry plans to tear it down.

Henry filed paperwork with the town's Preservation Division Monday to get permission to tear down the red brick Georgian Revival mansion and build a new home.

“Oh my God,” John Ford, head of Ford Realty, told The Boston Herald. “This could be a record-breaking teardown.”

The seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom mansion, built in the 1930s, was previously owned by Frank McCourt, who owns a baseball team of his own, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

McCourt had renovated the home when he lived there, but Henry has decided to build from scratch rather than remodel again.

Henry is reportedly a millionaire many times over. He earned his fortune in the global futures markets and owns a 164-foot yacht and private plane.

If it seems extravagant to spend $16 million and tear down a home, Henry may have gotten something of a bargain. McCourt's original asking price for the property was $27 million.

Henry must still get permission from the town before beginning the demolition.