Town for Sale Within the U.S.’s 13,000-square-mile National Radio Quiet Zone, where no cellphones, wi-fi or any equipment operating on radio frequencies are allowed.
Spy town for sale: $1M for 92 homes plus dorms, police and fire stations, sport facilities. Don’t mind all those satellite dishes
We’ve seen entire towns
go up for sale, but two unique factors in this listing hold more intrigue but
less practicality than usual. For an auction reserve of US$1 million, the buyer
will get a 120-acre former government spy station in Sugar Grove Station, W.
Va. The giant satellite dishes are still there and still track the location and
content of international telecommunications activity, but they’re not part of
the deal, and anyway they’re hidden behind a thick forest a mile away (makes
you feel better, right?).
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govA view of the back
yards of one housing area.
Then there’s the fact
that the property sits within the
(The NRQZ also
attempts to prevent radio interference to the National Radio Astronomy
Observatory 30 miles away; they’re listening for sounds of space stations other
than the ISS, we’d guess.) Sugar Grove and the NRAO have the tightest
telecommunications restrictions within the zone. CB radio is 10-4, good buddy,
but even microwave ovens are on the negatory list.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govTypical
suburban-style houses in this town.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govA typical kitchen in
one of the houses.
As the station can house
500 people, the listing suggests this would make a great resort area, which
might put the whole no-cell thing in a plus column for those trying to
disconnect, but we can’t see it operating as a conference centre, as was also
suggested.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govThe lobby area of
the dorm building, which also has a canteen and other amenities.
It could be a private
school or campus; graduating marks of students without access to IG or Snapchat
could make for an interesting educational study. Using it as a family compound
without airwave distractions could help the cousins get acquainted by being
forced to interact old-school with each other.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govThe playground area.
The highest bidder will
get a fenced and gated town, with 80 charming houses (“in like-new condition”)
on tree-lined streets just as many small American towns have.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govThe pool area can be
operational longer in this area than in most Canadian towns.
Included in the price are
a pool, a bowling alley, a daycare centre, a community centre, a gym, a
full-size indoor basketball court, tennis and racquetball courts, a football
field, a playground with kiddie pool, a hobby shop for cars or woodworking, a
police station and a fire hall. And dorms and administrative buildings.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govThe massive basketball
/ sports court.
Government employees used
to live in Sugar Grove, but last fall “it became unnecessary to house related
analytical staff at the base,”toptenrealestatedeals.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govThe spic-and-span
new five-bay fire hall.
The George Washington and
Jefferson National Forests surround Sugar Grove, situated between the Allegheny
Mountains and the south fork of the Potomac River.
TopTenRealEstateDeals
via gsaauctions.govThen entry gate.
Perhaps in need of a more-welcoming facelift.
The auction end date has
not yet been determined, but open house tours are given intermittently. No need
to fashion a tin-foil hat for the occasion. Click here for more information.
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