In Washington, DC, one single-family house inside the beltway could cost you $1 million. Just three-and-a-half hours southwest you can buy a whole town for that price.
Nestled in the West Virginia countryside is a small, idyllic town called Sugar Grove.No one locks their doors here. They leave their keys in the car. It’s a picture-perfect slice of Americana. And nearby on its own sits a bargain that’s just as sweet — Sugar Grove Station.
A recently closed naval base that once supported Sugar Grove, Sugar Grove Station is on the auction block for $1 million. Established in 1969 as "Naval Radio Station Sugar Grove", the property comes with its own fire station. It's an exclusive gated community in the making.
According to the U.S. General Services Administration, the 122-plus-acre, well-maintained complex comes complete with:
- 80 single-family homes: on “lovely tree-lined streets”.
- Hotel-style building: 3-story, 45,424 sf building containing 53 small suites for up to 105 people, an industrial kitchen, a dining room, a laundry room, and several lounge areas.
- Public works building: 20,000 sf, with loading dock/receiving space, maintenance offices and gymnasium.
- Community center: fireplace, restaurant/club with a bar area and covered pavilion.
- Recreational facilities: playground, swimming and kiddie-pool with changing rooms, basketball, tennis, racquetball courts, running track, football/soccer field and baseball field.
- Fire station: six bays, nine beds.
- Activity center: ready to go as a daycare or youth center.
- NOT INCLUDED: Nearby satellite arrays and other cool, super-secret stuff.
In addition, the property sits within 13,000 acres of National Radio Quiet Zone. To you, that means no telemarketers or politicians can call you. That’s worth a million in itself!
Tours are available upon request. You can get more information or place a bid on the government’s real estate sales site. There is one piece of information that might have you hesitating. The extensive property costs about $4.6 million a year to maintain, according to the Washington Post. So you might want to sell the other 79 houses and charge a really big HOA fee!
The auction opened Feb. 9, but to date there are no bidders on the property valued at $200 million. Realistic hopes for the property are that a corporation, university, camp, resort or some other job-producing entity will put it to good use and provide jobs for the over 4,000 Pendleton County residents desperately in need of an economic boost.
There have been a number of unique plans for the town. One plan for a women’s prison was rejected by West Virgina’s governor, citing “cost” (that and a probably big case of NIMBY – not in my back yard). Other abandoned plans included a community college for kids who’ve aged out of the foster care system and recovery center for vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Maybe Netflix or a studio should buy it — couldn't you just see the long-running spy drama Sugar Grove Station set here?
So maybe you just want to stick to one house for now. Redefy Real Estate can find it for you. Need to sell first? Take advantage of our flat fee, full service listings — save thousands for your next house, or start saving for your own Sugar Grove Station. Read this article and more on the Redefy blog!