I come from a young country. America. So when I see a historic landmark was built in the 1700s, it amazes me. Just earlier today, I discovered that in my adoptive town of Bad Homburg, Germany, a special site is currently on the market. I feel both a sense of awe and befuddlement. Somehow, it seems something this old shouldn’t be on the market… but how cool that it is!
Heuchelbach is a stream flowing in the Kirdorf neighborhood of Bad Homburg, but you can’t see a good portion of it because part of the stream is underground and part of it is flowing through a giant cement canal. The city of Bad Homburg now has plans to renaturieren the stream and the land around it – essentially, to return it to its natural state. It will be dug up and all the cement will be taken away.
The plan is to make the area more attractive for nature lovers and pedestrians. The total site waiting for what might be called re-naturing or nature-rehabilitation covers an area of 1.4 Hectares, or 3.46 Acres of land that sits between the streets of Königsteiner Strasse and Götzenmühlweg. More interesting still is that on this land is the very last remaining Mill in town, the Götzenmühle. Like the Heuchelbach stream, the Götzenmühle it flows past needs renovations. Currently, no one is using the mill but it is almost entirely intact. Astonishing to me is that it was originally built before electricity. Very possibly before my country was founded.
Get It While It’s… ok, kind of cold actually. It’s STONE!
Right now, the approximately 300 year old Götzenmühle is for sale, and even though it’s a historic site, it is not Denkmalgeschützt, or historically protected. That means that legally, anything could happen to it. The property needs lots of help getting back on its feet, but I can easily imagine it becoming an amazing and memorable, even whimsical place. If we are very lucky, a savvy investor will find someone like me to transform it into one of the town’s Great Places To Be.
Stones! Very cool.
You can find the old mill listed online as an Einfamilienhaus (freistehend). A family house, free standing – meaning not connected to another house. A lone, family house. Interesting. Not quite how I would have listed it. How might I list it? Hmm… how about Super Amazing Historical Ancient Old Mill Waiting For Loving Renovation Just Perfect For ME! Ahem.
Beauty ALL Around
The Old Mill (I’m already giving it a name because that’s what you do with things you love) is quite large, a total of 380 square meters of interior space all waiting for a new owner and proper heating and electricity and probably a new roof. For those of you in the States, that’s a whopping 1,146 square feet. And soonish, the government will make sure that a lovely stream is flowing past the property and it will be green fertile land with pretty trees and butterflies and things like that. It will be picturesque, as such refurbished places in Europe tend to be.
But such large projects as this come at a price, and that is where I wonder what will happen to the Old Mill.
The purchase price for The Old Mill of Bad Homburg is €499,000 plus change, a small taste of what would need to be invested into making this property what it should be: namely, livable. I sincerely hope that whoever does purchase the mill will do something interesting with it. Only time, as time tends to do, will tell.
You can see the simple truth of that in the mill itself. I for one will be keeping my fingers crossed (as is done in the U.S.) and my thumbs pressed (as is done in Germany) for good luck. It would be wonderful to see something special happen with this place, and certainly a shame if we were to end-up losing it to dust.
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