Former Carnegie Library for Sale Could Be Yours
Ever dreamed of living in a library? If you’re up for a little hard work, that dream could be yours, thanks to a unique offering in Kendallville, Indiana.
Located about 30 miles north of Fort Wayne, Indiana, the 4,400 square foot former Kendallville Public Library is on the market for $250,000. The facility is one of the original 2,500 libraries built by Andrew Carnegie in the early 1900s. The Kendall Public Library opened its doors in 1913.
The library is zoned for commercial and residential, meaning prospective buyers can turn this into a place to live or utilize it for a business. It’s currently owned by a local business person who purchased it a decade ago and who has used it periodically for art shows. The seller has maintained the exterior of the building, replacing roof tiles as warranted, as well as the brick and fieldstone foundation.
Kendallville closed their Carnegie in 1960, when the building no longer afforded the space to meet the community’s needs. The sale of the building helped fund the construction of the bigger library.
Prior to the current owner, the library was owned and occupied by an architecture firm and another business.
The interior of the library is in excellent condition and it includes much of the original woodwork.
While owning a library like this sounds like a dream, interested buyers need to be aware there’s a lot of work ahead. Despite the great foundation and maintenance of the interior, along with a pair of new furnaces and air conditioners (plural for both), the building has never been a private residence. There are four half bathrooms, but none of them have a bath or a shower, and there’s currently no kitchen. The electric work also needs updating.
Carl Quandt, the agent selling the property, told the San Francisco Gate that instead of staging the library to encourage interested buyers to imagine how it would work as a home, he wanted to let the building speak for itself.
“A lot of the woodwork in there is preserved. I felt like it sold itself,” he said.
He’s not wrong.
So far, no commercial buyers have expressed interest, though a number of people across the country have expressed interest to the selling agency for turning it into a home.
Check out the Realtor listing for even more stunning photos, as well as more information about the library and, if you’re interested, setting up a showing. Talk about a perfect new place for a reader to dwell.
