A working Michigan lighthouse is for sale. The bidding started at just $10,000
A historic, 68-foot-tall lighthouse, in a remote part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is for sale.
But, before you start dreaming about turning the more than a century-old structure into a home — or a long- or short-term rental unit — consider that it’s small, about 1,000 square feet, and in a part of the state that, especially in the winter, could be challenging to get to and keep warm.
It’s also a working navigation aide maintained by the Coast Guard, marking the southern end of the Portage River in Houghton County.
"Generally, people who buy a lighthouse, buy it because they love lighthouses," Paul Hughes, a public affairs officer in Boston, told the Free Press, adding that they are romantic properties to own. "It’s a true passion for them. They have the means and the wherewithal to restore them."
Formally known as the Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light, the Torch Lake Township lighthouse is being auctioned off by the U.S. General Services Administration and is connected to an Army Corps of Engineers breakwater. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cost: $10,000 to $1 million
The deed comes with historic preservation restrictions, which, among other things, could limit how you paint, renovate, and make use of it.
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Hughes said lighthouses tend to sell from about $10,000 to almost $1 million, and usually take thousands of dollars and more to restore and maintain. Some of them are in rough shape.
And in addition to the Michigan lighthouse, the government is selling three others: one in Ohio, the Cleveland Harbor West Pierhead; and two in Connecticut, the Penfield Reef in Fairfield, and the Stratford Shoal. Bidding for the Michigan lighthouse began Tuesday. Bidders must submit at least a $10,000 deposit.
Proceeds from the sale, Hughes said, usually go to the Coast Guard.
Michigan, with more than 3,200 miles of shoreline, boasts of having more lighthouses than any other state, nearly 130. The have been referred to as lakeshore sentinels, offering waypoints on water and markers on land, and come in all shapes and sizes. Some are short, others tall. Some tiny, others spacious.
No date has been set for the bidding to close; but similar auctions, officials said, often remain open for up to six weeks. After two days of bidding, there were just two with a high bid of $12,000, and bidding in increments of $1,000.
It's about 'preserving history'
Opened in 1919, the Keweenaw lighthouse is known by other names, the Portage Entry Light or the Portage Lake Lower Entry Light.
The Keweenaw lighthouse sits at the offshore end of a breakwater extending southward from shore, according to the historic preservation application,. The structure includes a timber crib foundation and concrete pier that support a concrete one-story machine room and a three-story octagonal steel tower topped with a circular lantern.
The concrete portion of the lighthouse is unpainted. The steel tower and lantern are white. The lantern's roof is red. The lantern gallery's guard rail is black with a red handrail. And it signals a modern fog horn and a solar-powered white flash every six seconds.
"You can't knock it down," Hughes said. "This whole thing is about preserving the lighthouses. Preserving history."
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Working 100-year-old Michigan lighthouse for sale, bids starting at $10K
