Nantucket Lightship On Sale For $5.2M
BOSTON (CBS) - Have you ever dreamed of living on a houseboat? Well, there's nothing else like the one that just went on the market in Boston.
It boasts a custom designed interior that keeps alive the ship's nautical heritage. And it can be yours for a cool $5.2-million.
It is 128 feet long and 30 feet wide, docked at Boston's Commercial Wharf, looking like a workhorse of the sea, but then you go inside. "This is the Nantucket Lightship, WLB 612," says the ship's owner, former Mass. State Senator Bill Golden.
"This is a 4000 square foot, hand crafted, exotic hardwood interior, 6 bedrooms, 6 1/2 bath, home on the water," he explains.
Golden and his wife Kristen bought the ship in the year 2000 on eBay, no joke, for about $126,000.
"This ship was a dead ship when we bought it. It was going to be sold to scrappers," he says. But with master craftsmen, they turned it into a gem. For nearly 20 years the Goldens have sometimes lived aboard, but mostly chartered the ship to others. "People from the owner of the red violin, to Janelle Monae have chartered the ship," Golden says.
But the real reason the Goldens took on the task is preservation. These ships were once used as floating lighthouses. "Out of 179 lightships, there are only 12 left," he says.
But it's time to sell. "It is for sale. It's offered for $5.2-million," says Josie McKenzie, the listing broker from Douglas Elliman Real Estate. "The interior is absolutely warm and cozy and luxurious," she adds.
"At the end of one season you can move it to another location, and of course, if you don't like your neighbors you just haul up anchor, bring up the ropes and cast off," Golden says.
The Goldens also own a second lightship. They intend to use the proceeds from the sale of this one, to restore that one. We're told there has been interest in the ship which could be used as a home, a museum or as a business location.
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