As GPS made their original determination obsolete , many pharos took on new life as vacation homes in the 21st century . Old lighthouses around the world are available to rent on anightly fundament , and if you ’re looking for a more permanent site , it ’s not too difficult to find lighthouses for sale in the United States . AsAtlas Obscurareports , one nineteenth - century structure currently being auction off by the U.S. government offer arresting scene of Key West , Florida , and a level of isolation usually limited to private islands .
The Sand primal lighthouse does n’t calculate like most American ’s quintessential idea of a beacon light . rather of a brick mainstay , its body consist of a grille , iron legs propped up on peck screwed into the Rand beneath it . The 132 - foot tower stands in five understructure of piss and is located several miles from the sea-coast . The bare - bone design is n’t the intersection of an unfinished design : So - called " screwing - pile " lighthouses were designed to endure the hurricane that on a regular basis batter southerly Florida . Instead of toppling the body structure over , fierce malarky simply go by through the gaps in its skeleton .
Though it ’s no longer functional , the Sand Key lighthouse would make a striking secluded getaway for a beacon light enthusiast with money to drop . The government opened it upfor auctionin March 2019 with a starting bid of $ 15,000 . The closing date for the auction has not yet been specify , and the bid presently stands at $ 24,000 . Anyone can anonymously participate online by putting down a $ 5000 deposit that will go towards their final pass .
The property is n’t ready for the new owner to start survive out their nautical hermit fantasy in good order off . The keepers ' quarters were destroy in a firing in 1989 , and the spiral stairway is overlook as well . body of work will also need to be done to the deck and some atomic number 26 columns before it ’s ready for human residents . The government states that it ’s sell the pharos " as is , " so anyone who invite on it should take the additional restoration costs into consideration . If it ’s not used as an out - of - the - way holiday dapple , the Sand Key lighthouse could also be transform into a museum .
Defunct lighthouses on lakes and seacoast around the state are invariably beingauctioned offby the U.S. government . If you ca n’t commit to buy one outright , some are even in indigence ofcaretakers .
[ h / tAtlas Obscura ]
