It may look like something from out of this world, but the Space House, a local landmark on the side of Signal Mountain, sold at auction Saturday for the earthy price of $135,000.
“This is the most unusual property we’ve done,” said Terry Posey, one of three Crye-Leike Auctions auctioneers who conducted the sale. “The buyer bought it sight unseen, except on the Web site.”
Built of steel and concrete to resemble a flying saucer — with landing gearlike stilts that conceal utilities and serve as a foundation — the house has drawn the curious since its construction in 1970.
“I just wanted to walk through it,” said Pat Powell, of Powells Crossroads, Tenn., following the sale. “I remember bringing my children here to look at it and take pictures.”
Most of the 60 or so people who gathered for the 1 p.m. auction were lookers, not bidders, which did not surprise the auctioneers. They agreed unique properties often draw crowds interested in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour a home even if they have no intention to make a purchase.
“It’s been all over the media,” said Jeremy Edwards who drove from Ringgold, Ga., to attend the auction. “That is definitely one of the most unique houses in Chattanooga, I thought it would go higher.”
While many kept silent, others came to 1408 Palisades Road prepared to purchase a house recently listed with a Realtor for $184,900 that was being sold at an absolute auction with no minimum.
“I came to bid,” said Doug May, of Chattanooga. “My dad told me when I was a little boy, ‘Dang, who’d want to live in that?’ But here I was at the auction. It’s fabulous.”
The three-quarter acre lot, with views of the Tennessee River and Chattanooga, for some was as appealing as the house.
“It’s kind of interesting,” said Tony Byers, of Cohutta, Ga., adding that he was not disappointed when his was not the winning bid. “It really surprised me, I thought it would be a ‘blow out.’”
The auction opened with a bid of $100,000 moved to $125,000 then to a bid, by telephone from Ohio, of $135,000. From there, no amount of auctioneer cajolery could elicit anyone to top the bid by Pearl Johnson, of Cincinnati.
Lauren Ballema and Nicholas Avnaim, of Cleveland, Tenn., were not upset that they arrived minutes after the sale ended.
Ms. Ballema said they had seen an auction sign on the property the previous week, looked it up online and decided they had to “see the spaceship house — it’s a monument.”
“I hoped there would be some memorabilia at the auction,” Mr. Avnaim said. “We lost our chance (to bid) but will take pictures. We should have brought space suits.”
Ron Parimore, who lives on the same street as the Space House, said a former owner offered to sell him the house for $25,000 following a fire in 1975.
“There is no telling how many people have owned that place, and the stories that house could tell,” he said. “I remember once in the 1970s when the owners got in an argument — that was when the stairway still went up and down — and the wife left. She pulled the stairs up, drove her husband’s truck underneath it so he couldn’t get the stairs down and left him stuck inside.
“It is always good to have new neighbors.”
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Space House Auction
Fast facts:
* Resembling a flying saucer on stilts, the three-bedroom, two-bath house was built in 1970.
* Utilities are concealed inside the buildings six stilts.
* Built of steel and concrete, the house is estimated to weigh 55-60 tons.
* Original porthole windows that surrounded the house were replaced with square windows and its skylights were covered.
* The Space House has been featured several times on HGTV.
