Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

'Rather see the house have a new life': B.C. couple lists home for $1

'We'd just love to see our home go to a good home!'

It's not a typo — a Naramata house is indeed on sale for just $1.

The catch is you'll need to have some land to place it on, and pay for moving it.

Naramata couple Jim and Denise McIntosh have put their five-bedroom, two-bathroom home on the market for a loonie in the hope of attracting a buyer who can preserve the home that they and the community have loved for decades.

Known locally as "The Centre House," 3335 First St. has a long history in Naramata, built in 1949 and used as a minister's or principal's cottage until 2000, when the McIntoshes bought it — the first time it had been sold to a private owner outside of church organizations.

"I just loved the history of the place, and just sort of the stories of all the different people that lived in the house was kind of unique," Denise said.

"And we've had so many people just walk by our house and say, 'Oh my gosh, my husband grew up here, my family lived here,' you know ... It's actually part of a little historical walking tour in town."

Unfortunately, as the home has aged, the foundation has suffered. Denise said they had hoped to renovate and restore the place, but the entire foundation needs to be redone, and to do so means saying goodbye to the house.

Denise was devastated to think about it being demolished and ending up in a landfill.

"The more I thought about it, just because the foundation's not any good doesn't mean the house isn't. Why couldn't somebody else take the house off the foundation, and put it on a new foundation on a new lot?" Denise said.

"We thought, we'd much rather see the house have a new life."

Denise and Jim put ads up online last week explaining the situation and the bargain price, and have already had a few inquiries from potential buyers around the Okanagan Valley.

"If it could stay in Naramata, that would be my dream. Just keep it as part of the heritage. That would be my first choice. After that it's just whoever would like it, I guess. First come first served!" Denise said.

Inquiries about the house can be sent to Denise and Jim at jim.mcintosh21@gmail.com.

The couple has plans to build a new home on a new foundation on the lot, but they will miss the house they have spent two decades in.

"We'd just love to see our home go to a good home!"