Woah: Tucked inside this otherwise modest time capsule house — a 1900 single-owner home now for sale in Grand Rapids — is a 1929 Kimball 2,300-pipe pipe organ — a feature that is valued at up to a million dollars. I can’t imagine anyone would ever guess. Thanks to reader Lucas for this hot tip — and click on through for the answer.
Update March 2015: Sold! Read the story here.
Inside: a 2,300-pipe pipe organ
From the listing:
This is TRULY a once in a lifetime opportunity. This home features, most magnificently, a 2,300 pipe, wind powered pipe organ. It’s 32 ”ranks” provides more musical ability than most churches have installed. This most certainly is RARE OPPORTUNITY. If purchased and installed brand new, this would cost between $800 THOUSAND and ONE MILLION dollars. The addition was constructed solely to house this gorgeous piece of professionally installed craftsmanship. Oh yes, the rest of the home is extremely well maintained with many updates and features, 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath, hot water heat, 2 car heated and cooled garage, underground sprinkling, enclosed front porch and back porch, insulated windows and includes the stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, and pipe organ.
Ummm…. I watched… I don’t understand where the 2,300 pipes fit, exactly. I guess, since there is just one bedroom — the rest of the house is taken up by the pipe organ.
Certainly a sweet modest house by any other measure. What a delight!
Thank you, Mark Douglas Real Estate, for permission to show these photos and the video, all taken by Mark Douglas.
Link love:
Heart says
Wow! thanks for posting this Pam.
I can tell from the photos this was hand made by craftsmen (pipes/woodwork) 1900 sounds right for the home/layout. Love the way they maintained the integrity of the house/organ. There was a lot of Love put into this. Anyone who buys the house and/or Organ would benefit from this. They just don’t do this type of work anymore… I think it should be listed as a National treasure.
Ray Smith says
Agree with you. This homes deserves to be listed as a national treasure and it requires proper maintenance. 🙂
JKM says
The lady who lives behind us must play at her church occasionally – or else simply likes hymns. Sometimes we’ll hear music from her house but it’s from what sounds like a regular organ. I can’t imagine what we’d hear if she had a monster like this in her house! Definitely will take a specific buyer.
Joe Felice says
So, what is the listed price of the home? Boy, this would certainly need a very-specific buyer. I wish the owner and the agent good luck on finding him or her in Grand Rapids! On the other hand, I can only imagine how-much it would cost to have the organ professionally dismantled, removed and re-installed elsewhere. I know there are people who do this here in Denver. There was once a restaurant here called the Organ Grinder that had the largest organ west of the Mississippi. When the restaurant closed, they hired one of those companies to move the instrument to someone’s church (I believe). It was a lot bigger than this organ.
pam kueber says
If you click through the link at the bottom, you can see that the listed price is $129,900.
jivesnake says
This house should come with Vincent Price. The Abominable Dr. Phibes! Anyone? Anyone? (RIP VP).
Anastasia says
Does there also look like there’s a basement space to this house? & it looks like the bedroom is converted attic space too.
lynda says
Oh my, what a deal for an organ lover. My husband’s uncle had a house he built for a Wurlitzer theatre organ he purchased many years ago. He rebuilt the organ and had it in his house for many years. He did find a buyer for the organ. He never played the organ However, organ players did come by play now and then. http://www.gstos.org/brielle.htm
Mary Elizabeth says
Wow! What a wonderful house. I know an organ builder and several organists, and I can see any of them doing this if they had the chance. Sounds like it took more imagination and help from friends than it did money. Is it really sold?