Two Chances to Own Your Own Town

Dec. 27 -- This town not big enough for the two of you? Now each of you can buy your own.

Take your pick between Bridgeville, a nearly deserted hamlet in Northern California, and an abandoned remote New Mexico community called Playas. Bridgeville sold today on the eBay auction Web site for $1.78 million, but Playas is still on the market for $3.2 million.

"We've got a whole town site, and everything that goes with it," said Nick Balich of Russ Lyon Realty Co., which is handling the sale of Playas. "It's quite a unique piece of property."

The current owners of Bridgeville cast a wide net by using eBay. But Playas' owners are using a more conventional method by taking bids through their broker.

Your Own Airstrip, Churches, Restaurants …

The new owner of Playas will get 1,840 acres of high desert land, complete with mountain views, along with 259 homes and 25 apartments. There's also a bowling alley, bank, fire station, medical center, two churches, a bar, and a 5,000-foot paved runway. Did we mention the rodeo arena, tennis courts, and swimming pools?

Bridgeville, Calif., languished for sale on eBay for months, unable to attract a bid meeting the seller's minimum asking price of $500,000. After several media outlets picked up on the novelty of buying an entire 137-year-old nearly-empty lumber town online, interest in Bridgeville surged.

Bidding for the 80-acre property surged from an opening bid of just $5,000. It remains to be seen who the winning bidder is and whether he or she has the cash to close the deal, however.

"We don't have any idea who's bidding at all," Chris Larsen, the owner of Sunset Realty, which is representing the Bridgeville listing, admitted Thursday.

The auction winner will get 1.5 miles of waterfront property along the Van Duzen River, several cabins, 10 houses, restaurant, store, and a old cemetery. You also get your own ZIP code — 95526 — and the thrill of owning a town founded in 1865 by a trapper named Slaughter Robinson.