Colonel Sanders, founder and face of KFC, once lived in Mississauga. His former home is now for sale

A Mississauga home once owned by KFC founder Hardand Sanders, better known as the iconic Colonel Sanders, is for sale. Photo by Jaclyn Deme Realty

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The Ontario home where Colonel Sanders, KFC founder and face of the fast-food brand, once lived recently hit the real estate market with an asking price of $1.5 million.

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When Harland David Sanders, accompanied by his wife Claudia, moved north in 1965 to oversee the expansion and operations of the brand then known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, they settled on 1337 Melton Drive, “a modest bungalow near the corner of Dixie Avenue and The Queensway” in Mississauga as their home, according to Visit Mississauga.

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The Sanders lived in Mississauga for part of the year until his 1980 death in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Sanders was 75 at the time and already a millionaire, having sold off most of his franchises to a group of U.S. investors a year prior, but he retained franchising rights and stayed on as the trademark and quality controller.

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Sanders himself originally hailed from Indiana, and while he first sold his fried chicken at a roadside restaurant in Kentucky during the Great Depression — during which time Governor Rub Lafooon bestowed him with the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel — the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in 1952 in Salt Lake City, Utah. A store remains there to this day. (The original franchisee was also the first to use Sanders’ likeness in branding, created the “finger lickin’ good” catchphrase and was the first to introduce the cardboard bucket of chicken.)

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Sanders later abandoned his own restaurant and started travelling the U.S., franchising his “Original Recipe” to restaurateurs and turning it into the largest fast-food chain in the U.S. at one point.

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Upon his relocation to Canada, Sanders turned to Toronto lawyer Terrence Donnelly, whom he’d met at the CNE Food Pavilion during an earlier visit, to assist in expansion. Donnelly became his counsel, sat on Sanders’ board of directors and eventually became the head of the Harland Sanders Charitable Organization, a registered Canadian charity that has donated millions to health care initiatives and carries on his legacy.

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The late Colonel Harland Sanders, founder of the world-famous Kentucky Fried Chicken, is seen in a 1964 file photo. Photo by Deni Eagland/Vancouver Sun

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In 2000, the community-based, academically affiliated Ontario health network Trillium Health Partners named its women’s and children’s care center in the Colono Hardland Sanders Family Care Centre in honour of his donations over the years.

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Donelly also helped facilitate the purchase of the Sanders’ Lakeview home, which was listed by Jaclyn Deme and Meta Realty without specifying that it was once the residence of a fast-food franchise icon.

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The “impeccably maintained 4-level side split” spreads four bedrooms, three full baths, two laundry rooms, an open-concept kitchen and multiple living and family rooms over its 2,000-plus square feet of finished space.

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“A standout feature is the private main-floor primary bedroom retreat, complete with an accessible ensuite bathroom (with skylight and heated flooring), and private laundry/mudroom with ample storage,” the listing reads.

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The main floor living room and open-concept kitchen at 1337 Melton Drive in Mississauga. Photo by Jaclyn Deme Realty

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The home’s footprint has changed in the 46 years since Sanders and his wife lived there, the most recent being an addition in 2014, partially designed by award-winning Mississauga-based interior designer Jane Lockhart.