Painter’s Folly on the auction block
Painter’s Folly hit the auction block today and sold for a cool $300,000, but the winning bid still requires township approval. A young, local couple won the bid and hopes to raise a family in the historic home if it’s approved.
The suggested starting price appeared to be $400,000. The auction house representative told another attendee that the bidding materials disclosed $400,000 as the suggested opening bid (and it’s the estimated price on Zillow). But I couldn’t confirm that amount.
Given that benchmark, I suspect the $300 Gs might not be the final offer (though nothing is publicly confirmed yet). Watch the auctioneer call the final price here (Instagram or Facebook).
Painter’s Folly has been a point of discussion for years (here, here, here, and here). The township purchased the property in 2018 for $625,000 using Open Space funds. Since then, the township has invested several hundred thousand dollars in the property and used it as an artists’ studio for a time.
Recently, the township granted conservation easements to North American Land Trust (NALT) to preserve certain exterior aspects of the building. The Painter’s Folly Preservation Alliance detailed these easements in the October update.
While Painter’s Folly’s future remains uncertain, its next season of life is approaching. I’ll keep you posted as this moves through what’s presumably the final stages of the township transferring it to its new owner.
