UPDATE – This 980-Year-Old Redwood Log House is listed for sale again, almost three years after it was featured on Barn Finds back on November 4, 2022. It’s now listed here on Hemmings in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, with an $11,000,000 discount since we saw it last, and is now said to have been built in 1940 rather than 1939. Not to mention having lost 920 years in age – it was listed as being 1900 years old last time! There is an asking price of a mere $500,000 this time, and thanks to PRA4SNW for the updated traveling tree tip!
FROM 11/04/2022 – Our first house was built in 1890, but that’s nothing compared to this one! Imagine that it’s ohhhhhh… 122 AD, and you plant a tree. Little do you know that someday it will be hollowed out into a single-family home. That’s right, this built-in-1939, 1900-Year-Old Redwood Log House can be found listed here on eBay in exotic-sounding Tarpon Springs, Florida. I’ll tell you the price once you sit down. No, really, sit down. Now. The seller is asking $11,500,000, or you can make an offer.
Now, this is a camping trailer that I can live with, and in. There aren’t many camping trailers that are pulled by such a big truck (tractor), but this one is pulling around a 33-foot-long, 9′-4″ tall log, cut out of a 267-foot-tall California redwood tree at 65 feet above the base. Then, it was hollowed out and crafted into a home by two brothers in one year, back in 1939.
There it is, I like it! I could easily live in this log, and I never thought I’d say that. This incredible giant tree was on the property of Hammond Lumber Company in Eureka, California, and just imagine how sad it would be if every single one of these mammoth trees were cut down. Thankfully, officials and private interests rallied to save tracts of these gentle giants, and you can see many of them today. In fact, it’s been illegal to cut down Sequoia or Coastal Redwood trees since 1968. You can see this one every day if you have $11-mil lying around.
This redwood log house has led quite a life over the last 80 years or so. It has been traveling from fairs to carnivals to trade shows around the country, and that I have never heard of this or seen it in person over the last five decades is mind-boggling. Talk about barn finds, this redwood log has 16,500 board feet of lumber in it, or it did at one time. That’s enough for a barn or two.
It sounds like the owners of this attraction are including the trailer that it rests on; otherwise, I’m not sure how the next owner would haul it around the country to fairs in order to pay it off. The seller talks about the asking price a bit, saying that it’s normal to have a five-to-seven-year earnings ratio to asking price. If that makes sense? You would have to figure out where to bring this tree home, where there are enough tourists looking for attractions, and then get enough people to pay to walk through it to be able to whittle down, so to speak, that asking price. Have any of you seen this Redwood Log home in person?
I’d be interested but I’m $11,499,900 short.
What a shocker, the author likes it( I’ve already emailed his wife as a heads up) What’s a semi tractor cost to rent these days? Aw, who cares, Scotty, as soon as the check clears, I’m on my way,,oh, oh, Nebraska weigh station open,,,DANG.
Fun stuff, posted clearly for shock value, as I highly doubt ANY reader here has that kind of change lying around. I’m more partial to the truck in the original ad, a 1956 GMC LCF with the new 370 ( Pontiac?) V8. The “tree house”? Perfect for the type of folks that live out here, with their “cost no object” mentality, I hope they don’t smoke. Again, not to crap on anyone that may be interested birthday cake, but all this tells me, is how warped our current monetary situation is. It’s neat, but not multi-million dollar neat.
Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to cut my medications in half, and the ramifications there,,AMERICA,,freedom, until you get old and have your savings stripped away.
No old truckers? Scale open I thought for sure would garner a “log book” comment,,log book, that dates me, huh?
Son of a long passed trucker here. Any old time trucker knew how to dodge the chicken coops. Especially if your log book is way behind.
I too dig the old Jimmy pulling that thing! But I would want to drag it around with a Freighshaker.
On my various journeys I’ve seen several weigh stations dozens of times over the years during regular business hours and I think I saw one open maybe twice.
Not if it has power.. ELB..
For the record, the original truck that towed this log home was a Graham Brothers truck
It would show up yearly at the Oklahoma State Fair..until a few years ago. GLWS
What rolls down stairs
alone or in pairs,
and over your neighbor’s dog?
What’s great for a snack,
And fits on your back?
It’s log, log, log
It’s log, it’s log,
It’s big, it’s heavy, it’s wood.
It’s log, it’s log, it’s better than bad, it’s good.”
Everyone wants a log
You’re gonna love it, log
Come on and get your log
Everyone needs a log
log log log
Log Log Log Log
It’s big it’s round it’s wood
Log Log Log Log
It’s better than bad – it’s good
Ren & Stimpy was ahead of it’s time.
Does it come with headspace above? Because I’m a very tall guy who needs it!
Log, by BLAMO!
🤣🤣🤣 Good ol’ Ren and Stimpy.
Best laugh of the day – thanks!
I live in a log home and one of the first things I did was to name one of the interior logs “Log”
“I got your log right here”
Log – from Blammo.
It’s OBO now, novelty yes, practical nope. Isn’t something you want to store outside exclusively, so storage is an issue and it’s a log. Fairly rare, but a log.
I woke up this morning and logged on, and this was the first thing I saw. That tractor certainly has logged a lot of miles.
Heh heh. I get it.
I can remember seeing this and going through it at Carlisle. Pretty neat
I remember walking through it 60 years ago at the state fair
In the Ebay listing, I like how the seller states: “… it can be parked in a high traffic tourist area as a one of a kind tourist attraction exhibit. Tourist attractions like Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco or near Disneyland…” Sure, no problem, just park it outside the main entrance to Disneyland, they won’t care!
Fisherman’s Wharf? Plenty of room near Ghirardelli Square to park a trailer!
Does it float? Put it in the San Francisco Bay.
But then you would change it’s classification to “House Boat”.
I have a hard time believing you could clear even $1 million a year dragging this around.
Don’t think I’d stuff myself into a tube with no windows and limited ways to get out of it. Price is nuts.
That’s one expensive woody!
When I saw this, my first thought was “cool.” My second thought was, “how would one price it?”. The author dangles some math for us, so I took the bait and continued his math.
He assumes it resides at a major tourist attraction which has 10 million annual attendance. If 2% attend at $7.50 admission, that’s $1.5 million in revenue per year. At 5 to 7 years revenue (he has conveniently not included operating expenses), he gets to his purchase price. Now, that would be 200,000 people per year. Or 550 people per day, every day. Or, if the attraction is open 10 hours per day, 55 people per hour, every open hour, every day. No problem, right?
I’d say his estimates (including the 5 to 7 years, I’d use 3) are not even close to realistic. But one can ask, I guess.
You forgot to figure in the cost of Pledge. That will cut into the profits quite a bit.
I doubt it would hold up under the foot traffic necessary to turn a profit as a “tourist attraction”. Cut the price by $11 million and you might have a decent investment for a fun AirBnB.
I hope there’s a toilet in there somewhere.
Rosseaux is right, a bathroom would be necessary for when you need to drop a log.
It’s occupied at the moment, by a squirrel.
I own this fantastic home.
It comes with a 1991 Mack midliner to tow it around.
I’m still looking for a buyer.
It’s finding a place to list it that I’m having an issue.
If anybody is interested, you can contact me at
[email protected]
Blessings
Man cave for those who would rather drink muddy water.
Log jokes start rolling in. I don’t recall a bathroom..seems like from left to right, a bedroom , a kitchenette and a dining/living room. That was years ago
For 12million I can buy in Tarpon Springs, FL 100 acres and a nice mansion with boat dock.
Oddly, as mammoth as this single log home is… it pales in size compared to many rigs I see pulling into “campgrounds”. Thanks for sharing, a true novelty with history.
Let’s see…a log house, a jet ski and some other thing that’s not a car. Hey Barn Finds, I have an old carpet sweeper on two wheels. I guess you can post that for me? I know others will disagree with me, but I read this email to see CARS…..nothing else.
Bye
Hi Steve, is the carpet sweeper stock or any mods. to it? And when was it last run?
The big question…will the visual condition of the brushes and foot switch pad align with the claimed run time hours?
Lol
ran when last parked
Swept when parked!
Old carpet sweeper? I smell LS swap!!!!
I went through this at a state fair (might have been in Dallas,Texas IIRC) some years ago. Quite interesting as a novelty, not as an investment, not as a car.
Somebody named “Keebler” needs to buy it.
I recall walking thru this in a small Ohio town in the early 70’s, shopping mall parking lot.
I believe it was 4 bits or a dollar at the ticket booth.
There was no line.
I got go see this on a grade school field trip in Rupert Idaho in the 1950s.
I can remember exactly where it was parked in town. I guess it made quite an impression on me.
I just realized I read the price wrong. WTF?
I see it’s priced to sell.
I remember seeing this at the Big E in Massachusetts
year? I’m living “in the neighborhood” and cant wait for a return.
I thought it looked familiar, but I checked my photos, and this is not the same hollowed-out redwood log home that I saw a few years ago. The one I saw was at the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. Perhaps the same people built both of them, because they are the same vintage and similar in appearance, but not same. The one in St. Augustine had a canvas covering and was showing signs of deterioration.
We took a family road trip up to Portland and back last summer and stopped at the One-Log House in Eureka. It was just like this one and cool as hell to walk-through. But 11.5 million dollars? Someone was smoking a big log when they posted this ad.
That’s actually just North of Piercy,just above the Southern
border of the Humboldt County border,on Highway 101.
Used to drive by there all the time,when I lived in Eureka.
That makes sense. My memory sucks. Thanks
Termites’ dream house! Bet Redwood from around the time of Jesus tastes like a fine caviar to these little rascals.
Actually, termites don’t like redwood, that’s why it’s so popular here out West for fences and such
$11.5 M. for a home that can literally go up in smoke with a careless or stupid visitor? This seller is clearly smoking something. I can buy several vacation homes for that price.
The Strange Inheritance Show featured this years ago. Here is the episode and very interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJZ5NbJmPc
Pretty cool Billy Bob , nice find! They forgot to mention when sleeping in it you sleep like a log.
Too many “dad jokes” about logs. I can’t take it anymore so I’m gonna log off……………🤣.
If you watch the YouTube video from ‘Strange Inheiritances’ she was only taking in $20K/ yr eight years ago. Her truck of the time was getting 4 mpg and gross receipts were going down.
claustrophobics need not apply
well……the powerball IS 1.5 billion for Saturday night, lol
I hate to be the one who says it, but I’d rather see this tree alive and thriving in the forest than in this spectacle-ular configuration.
I’m gonna buy it for the VIN. Got a burning bush in my back yard I can slap it on……
Try buying homeowners insurance for this. and its not even in Florida.
Went through it a few decades ago at a county fair. It was interesting but not a life changing experience. I doubt today’s young people would go out of their way to see it though. As a money making venture I fear it’s time has past.
Unfortunately, Coastal Redwoods are still being cut. It’s true that there are a lot of protected areas and ongoing efforts to protect more but some old growth is privately owned. Either by individuals or companies. Redwoods are also a renewable resourse but the commercially grown trees will never be the same as an old growth tree when it comes to bug and rot resistance. Or the beauty of their grain.
I have read about this “log home” before. The original truck is awesome. The price is insane but they’ll find that out when it doesn’t sell.
super cool although for 11 million, I can think of several houses I could buy across the world and travel to and from….
You can purchase beautifully constructed large homes, built with old growth redwood, and designed by famous architects, located all over the USA for as little as 1/10 the asking price of this log. Oh, and with windows, too.
It has windows. Look at the first photo.
No surprise, it is being relisted.
Thanks, Mike! I expected to see the price drop by a few million when it was relisted, but nope. Maybe the Powerball winner will buy it.
A California redwood tree for sale in Cedarburg WI.
Who wood think?
Gosh, has it been almost three years since we last saw this? I remember it, but how time does fly! Even with the substantial price reduction, no fireplace would be a deal-breaker for my wife. Oh wait, that would be a very bad idea here….
That was funny Mike. I’d be one seriously Nervous Nellie having a fire place in that thing.
I like to crack a window 🪟 open when we lite the firebox at home 🏡
That’s the biggest discount I’ve seen on anything, outside of a house in Beverly Hills, perhaps. Maybe the original asking price was one of those “Honey, I tried to sell it!” prices?
What does it weigh? That old tractor must have been struggling!
…gee, what would the termite contract cost ? …I guess there’s no smoking in there…no BBQs nearby either….hey, Honey, where’s the box of matches ? ya know how we name cars and things ….hows “Loghead” ? …can I take it out for a test-drive ?
This whole rig should be in the Henry Ford museum.
Termites ?
This whole rig should be in the Henry Ford Museum
So do I put home owners insurance? RV Insurance? Haggerty Classic Vehicle? I could see this 500 grand log on a small wooded lot for a recreational get away. In lieu of waxing with pledge one can get termite inspections . Now some lumbar support humor. FYI: What does a piece of wood say after a hot date? “I’m all fired up!”…Why was the plank so popular? It was always getting nailed. What do you call wood that’s good in bed? Hardwood…..
It reminded me of the fallen redwood tree in Sequoia NP. That hollow tree was used as a house and horse barn 150 years ago. It will still be there in a thousand years…
This log may have set the record for most responses on a BF item. Thanks to everyone for the clever comments. I never stopped grinning. Now if only I could get a mortgage….
Nope. There was a pimped out Caddy last month that had responses happening for a good month.
Huh…. NO one has noticed that they are different log homes? The one listed now is not the same one as the 2022 listing.
They sit on different trailers. One has windows down the side and one doesn’t have side windows. The banding holding the bark “Siding” on them is different between the two.
Should go into the Smithsonian.
I saw this Red Wood Tree House at the Liberty Plaza just outside of
Youngstown, Ohio in 1961 when I was 9 years old.
I knew I should have bought this when it was 13 minutes from my house in New Port Richey. At least I would have had a house to live in after the battle axe kicked me out for dropping 11 mil. : P
I saw that at our Local Mall in the 70s
I logged on… and saw this again ,first time saw on Barn Finds in 2022 kinda cool log shack , but really like the towing rig .
How was the centre cut out?