%5B14%5D.jpg "Ram Isld Ledge Light (4)")
One is for sale. Can you guess which one? (answer below)
Spring Point Ledge Light and Owls Head Light
Portland Breakwater Light (the Bug) and Portland Head Light
Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse and Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse
For sale: a hard-to-access, 105-year-old, wave-swept lighthouse on treacherous rock outcroppings at the entrance of Portland Harbor. No utilities and no functioning pier. Opening bid is at east $10,000.
Ram Island Ledge protrudes 1,300 feet from Ram Island and is only exposed at low tide. The granite tower was built in 1905 on a granite block foundation with an attached skeletal pier. It is 77 feet tall from its base to the middle of the round lantern.
The Coast Guard conveyed the lighthouse to the General Services Administration (GSA), which is handling the auction sale. Here’s a plus – the Coast Guard will continue to maintain the navigational aids, the light and the foghorn.
Wondering if there were any takers?
As of mid-September, there were 47 bidders and a high bid of $190,000. Registered bidders were allowed to inspect the lighthouse in late August – weather and seas permitting. Very calm water is needed to touch a boat's bow to the surrounding rocks. Once docked, bidders would climb a 30-foot exterior ladder to get inside the lighthouse. (Did I mention there were no utilities?)
So you weren’t looking to buy a lighthouse. How about a customs house or federal building? There’s some interesting real estate being auctioned by the U.S. Federal Government. Check out the listings on the GSA Property Utilization and Disposal site.
11 comments:
How interesting - I never ever thought about a lighthouse as being for sale! Humm...now if the last one you posted was for sale... the one with the lovely white house attached to it...
Ann
What? I've been outbid? RATS!
I put a bid on it for a friend of mine, the Reclusive Hermit. But his wife might not have liked it much, tho they do use a lot of candles even tho they have electricity where they now live. Oh well, I tried.
Ahhh-so glad to see a photo of one of my favorite lighthouses-Portland Head Light. Besides having more property and larger buildings than most light houses-it happens to be in quite a nice "neighborhood". Almost got lost trying to find it. Thanks for the memory.
Yes Ann, and there are even MORE lighthouses being offered by the GSA. Checking out their website for property and buildings being auctioned is really interesting and also quite sad at the same time, especially where the lighthouses are being sold off.
Hi Possum, would certainly need a LOT of candles for this lighthouse. If you had won the auction it would sure be tough inviting folks to visit...maybe a really long dock??
Hey Sara, we liked Portland Light also and it was the prettiest with the surrounding property. I took the most shots of this lighthouse and may do a separate post to show it off. Even though we're home, still have more Maine stuff we didn't get to post because of up and down wi-fi connections :-(
Hi Folks ....well I think we Mainer's take so much for granted!!
These will be a thing of the past if not maintained and...no..I don't think I want to be a owner of one...you know my luck with falling. lol ; }
Thanks for bringing these to mind with your photos!!
Made me think what I would do with a lighthouse. There is something intriguing about living in one, think I will wait on this.
Grammie G, the Coats Guard is having a difficult time financially trying to maintain lighthouses, which is why many more than we think are being offered for sale. The idea of living in one seems romantic, but only if it's located on land with utilities or maybe a nice lightkeeper's cottage...
Hi Out on the Prairie, do you use a first name or alias as OOTP seems so impersonal? As to what to do with a lighthouse, interesting question and if you can't live in it doesn't seem like it would have a practical use to an owner. But maybe someone with lots of extra cash would have fun boasting of owning one.
Nice series of Lighthouse photos. I too, never thought about one of those being for sale.
I've always thought it would be very romantic to live in a lighthouse ... but I think the actual doing it would prove otherwise.
Nice series of shots. I would not want to live in a lighthouse--absolutely too many stairs! The one that's for sale does not even look inviting and not a fun place to be in a storm.
Hi Mona, Ginnie and Elaime seems that the consensus is no one would want to live in this lighthouse, now maybe if it was't so isolated and had utilities and perhaps an elevator? Hmmm.
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