The town of Bridgeville is for up sale again. This time it’s not listed on eBay.
The small census-designated area known for an annual festival celebrating all things alien, unidentified and often flying, is listed for $1.1 million on land.com.
“Come experience the beauty of Bridgeville — a picturesque town with rich history,” the advertisement states. “This stunning riverfront property boasts 80+/- acres of lush green mountains, offering breathtaking views along the Van Duzen River. Enjoy INCOME POTENTIAL from various income generating houses, cabins, church, cemetery and even a Post Office (5 active Leases currently in place).”
Cindy LaPaille, one of the owners of Bridgeville, really wants to see her son’s vision for the town realized.
“My husband and I are up in age, and we live in Southern California, and so we’ve been trying to sell it for what his vision was, which is basically community, community, community, having a community center, an upgraded volunteer fire department,” she told the Times-Standard on Thursday morning. “So we’ve been kind of holding out to try to find just the right buyer to kind of fulfill his off-the-grid (dream for Bridgeville), really get community together out there.”
The town has a recent storied sales history. It first gained notoriety as being the first town put up for sale on eBay in 2002. (It has a much longer history as a stop on the Pony Express and a frequent stagecoach route.) In 2004, according to Realtor.com, Orange County financial adviser Bruce Krall bought Bridgeville for $700,000.
When it was for sale again in 2006, LaPaille’s son, Daniel LaPaille, purchased the town for $1.25 million. A few months later, he took his life, fatally shooting himself, according the Los Angeles coroner’s reports. An online posting by “Sky” at that time said: “Bridgeville will never forget all the wonderful things he did for all of us. He was quite ill at the time and very despondent. He will be missed for a long, long time.”
Cindy LaPaille said there has been local interest in purchasing Bridgeville.
“We’ve had lots of interest over the years, but it always comes down to the finance,” she said. “How do you find how to finance a town? Because it’s not like you’re going and you’re buying like a house. You know, it’s just so different.”
She said the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department and the community center are interested in a smaller parcel of the town.
“This would give my son’s vision a little bit of a start there because they’re wanting to basically take one side of the property and do one large building with all of the things that they need, with the volunteer fire department’s place for their vehicles, an office, the community center, and then a general open area for meetings and stuff like that that are really, really needed in the area,” she said of the potential plan.
She said a lot can be done with the property, located between Interstate 5 and U.S. Highway 101.
“It would be a great area to do like a solar-powered electric charging system,” she suggested.
This property is zoned as “Rural Community Centers” in the General Plan, which allows for a variety of uses including ranches, farms, stores, warehouses, mobile home parks, or campgrounds, the land.com advertisement notes.
The family is open to offers, she added.
“That price is very negotiable if it’s something that’s community-oriented for us,” she said. “So we really just want to see the area flourish and kind of come back to where it used to be.”
Local real estate agent Derek Baca was not available for comment on the sale of the property Thursday morning prior to the publishing deadline.
Ruth Schneider can be reached at 707-441-0520.