Real Estate Downturn? Lighthouse Goes For $200,000
By Sue Clark on Sep 4, 2007 in Opinion 
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The auction for Fourteen Foot Bank Lighthouse is now officially closed, and the bidder nicknamed “latea” has bought him or herself a unique property sitting three miles offshore of Bowers Beach in Delaware Bay. With no bids since latea’s $200,000 whopper on Friday August 31, the gavel has fallen.
For the money, “latea” will take possession of one of the first “caisson” type lighthouses. Unfortunately, there is no running water, no bathroom (the latrine hanging over the edge is illegal to use since it opens directly into the bay), fuel tanks but no generator and a rusty ladder to climb the steep sides. And if that’s not enough, the light is still an active aid to navigation and comes on every night. Okay, that might not be bad, but the foghorn, that’s a different story. While it may not be as active as fogbound Lubec Channel Light in Maine (also up for auction), it does blast every thirty seconds when there’s fog.
The Coast Guard took a reporter from NBC10 in Delaware out to visit the light, and the report makes one wonder if “latea” has any plans to live there. If so, it’s going to need a lot of work. As far as making it a bed and breakfast, that would probably be out. It needs a kitchen. And everything must be historically accurate.
While this auction has seemed to be a cause for amusement, it’s really great to see this lighthouse will not end up on the scrap heap. It will probably be a couple weeks before the money changes hands and the deal is finalized, and we won’t know anything about “latea” and his or her plans until then. Lighthouse News will continue to follow this story, and when the mysterious “latea” is revealed, read about it here.
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