Two Chances to Own Your Own Town

Dec. 27, 2002 -- 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.

… But They're Going to Need Some Work

Prospective buyers should keep in mind both towns are fixer-uppers, and far from other cities.

The new owner of Bridgeville will get a backhoe and tractor included in the deal. They will probably need it to get the community spruced up.

"It is old," Larsen said of Bridgeville. "It does need some work."

Some nearby residents are less forgiving.

"Obviously [the eBay bidders] haven't traipsed to Bridgeville lately," Lauren Shuman, who with her husband operates a cattle ranch on the outskirts of town, told the Los Angeles Times. "We're all clutching our sides and rolling around on the ground. It's hysterical."

The new owner shouldn't count on finding too many local jobs in the depressed logging area about 250 miles north of San Francisco.

And prospective buyers should note at least one well-know town purchase faired poorly.

In 1990, actress Kim Basinger plunked down $20 million for much of the town of Braselton, Ga., with elaborate plans to develop a movie and recording studio complex. The proposal was eventually scuttled, and Basinger sold the land for just $4.8 million.

But maybe buying Bridgeville or Playas could be the start of something big. Legend has it that the Dutch governor Peter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan for $24 in 1626.

The sellers certainly see nothing but potential.

"It's beautiful," Larsen said of Bridgeville. "I mean, there's so many different things you could do with it."

The site would make a good RV park or camping grounds, the sellers suggest, or grazing grounds for livestock.

In New Mexico, Playas also is filled with possibility, says Balich, the real estate agent representing the property. The town was built some 30 years ago for workers at the nearby Phelps Dodge Corp. copper smelting plant. When the facility shut down in 1999, few job opportunities were left and the community has been sitting almost entirely vacant for more than a year.

"One of the best uses would be a retirement community," he said. "I tell you, it's so pretty down there."

Playas might also make a great home for a spa or religious retreat, Balich adds, or a good location for a Hollywood action movie.

"I think the Homeland Defense Department was looking into it at some time," he noted.

Whoever ends up with the property will have to endure a 35 minute drive to get to the nearest neighboring town, Lordsburg, N.M., and three hours to reach major cities like Tucson, Ariz.

Your Own Town, But Not Absolute Power

Just buying a town doesn't make you the de facto mayor. The new owners won't be able to levy taxes or pass laws, because neither Bridgeville nor Playas are incorporated cities. Both are under local county jurisdiction.

Bridgeville's new owner will have to accept that the local school and a historic bridge on the property are owned by the county.

But that shouldn't prevent the new owners from painting the town red or changing the street names to their favorite cartoon characters, if they choose. After all, it's your town, said Larsen.

"You just own everything," she said.