200-Year-Old Mansion On eBay - Without The Land

from the oddities dept

The latest people trying to get a bit of extra eBay-related publicity by selling their landmark property on the site have a bit of a twist. The winning bidder of the Isaac Meason House will own the 200-year-old mansion and "National Historic Landmark"... but they don't get the land it's on. In fact, they're expected to take apart the house and rebuild it somewhere else. The current owners are worried that the rapid development on the land surrounding the mansion is decreasing the sites value. They can't afford to keep fighting with local officials over the land, and think the only way to preserve the house is to sell it off to someone who will move it, brick by brick, to another location.
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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 May 2003 @ 5:03pm

    Property protection

    It's pretty simple to stave off developers...

    ...just have the property declaired a National Heritage Site (at 200 years old, it qualifies) and then it's pretty much off limits; of course, you can't develope the land either, but if you're trying to maintain status quo in the midst of land reform, urbanization, suburbainzation or gentrification, then this is the way to go.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    diane, 11 May 2003 @ 10:29am

    Re: Property protection

    As owner of the Isaac Meason Mansion, my house is declared a National Historic Landmark, one of only 2000 in the entire country. It takes an act of Congress to determine that. That recognition gives us nothing except a brass plaque. Hometown politics here in Fayette County, Pennsylvania has more clout in determining the future of this estate than the nations historical agencies. Our local government thinks it is more important to have a junkyard in their county than a National Historic Landmark.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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