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Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Looking To Start An Artist Colony?

Here is a unique opportunity - the entire town of Toomsboro, Georgia is for sale. If you are a fan of "The Walking Dead" this is where the TV series was filmed.

Think of the possibilities and price is right at something like $700,000. What would you do with an entire town?

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Richard Reeve

9 Years Ago

Walking Dead was filmed in a place called Toomsboro! How ironic is that...?

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Look at the studio space - includes a train depot, grist mill, bank building, inn, houses, even a public toilet facility for visitors.

 

Marlene Burns

9 Years Ago

Az has lots of little towns ( or former little towns) that attracted those with an artistic lifestyle. Sadly, most have been overdeveloped and commercialized to the point that the original, utopian idea of having creatives live and work together, is all but lost.
Somebody needs to come along and develop and repair, then subsidize artists, promote and attract visitors, etc....
$700,000 would just be a drop in the bucket.

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

On the income side - Rental studio space, rental housing, gallery sales, trolley tour sales, ice cream sales, art tourism workshops, walking dead zombie fan festivals...

I imagine the real costs are in the overhead - landscaping, maintenance, security, taxes...

 

David King

9 Years Ago

I would like to buy it just to live there, (I like old buildings), I'd only do it though of I could put a fence around it, I don't like visitors. lol

 

Thomas Zimmerman

9 Years Ago

Oh no....I'm not living with a bunch of artists. Ya'll are crazy! lol

I love ya....but.....crazy!

 

Count me in. I call dibs on the crossbow.

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Says the town has 700 residents. They must live in the surrounding area. Hopefully they are not undead.

I'm with you David. I'd love all that space, it would be like living in a movie set. So many possibilities. High speed Internet access would be the deal breaker.

 

Tatiana Iliina

9 Years Ago

A year or two ago there was an entire medieval village in Italy for sale on eBay for something like 2M euros. All built in stone, declining for centuries, deserted probably since the war or so, the place was beyond any photographer's or artist's wildest dreams. Not to mention something like 40km from Florence!

My conclusion was the place must be bound up in so much red tape it would be impossible to get anything done.

Looks like that would not be the case with Toomsboro!

 

Mike Savad

9 Years Ago

sounds like a good place to live when the comet hits...


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

 

Marlene Burns

9 Years Ago

ed, darlin', it takes money to make money.....you know that, right?

 

Monsieur Danl

9 Years Ago

No response

 

Ricardo De Almeida

9 Years Ago

Be careful: :)

"Van Gogh rented a small yellow house situated on the Place Lamartine. He intended that it would become the center of his Studio of the South. In a letter to his sister, he described the cheerful building as "a little yellow house with a green door and green blinds, whitewashed inside—on the white walls very brightly colored Japanese prints, red tiles on the floor—the house in the full sunlight—and over it an intensely blue sky…."

Soon after renting the yellow house in early May, he began to dream that Gauguin would join him as the head of the artists’ colony. In anticipation of Gauguin’s arrival, van Gogh launched an ambitious campaign to furnish and decorate his studio, producing some of his best-loved paintings." (Artic)

...

"Van Gogh and Gauguin forged a deep friendship during the two years they lived and painted as neighbors in Arles, in the south of France. The two had built the town's reputation as an artistic colony. That dream ended in an angry exchange between the painters on the evening of Dec. 23, 1888.

As that story goes, van Gogh cut off part of his own ear with a straight razor after he and Gauguin parted."

(NPR)

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

First thing to change is the name!

Yes Marlene of course. This is fantasy, we know how to do that around here.

....

I live near the Cornish Art Colony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_Art_Colony) - today we have the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site which has the dubious distinction of being the least visited place in the park system.

 

Jack Donahue

9 Years Ago

Good idea, what are the hidden costs? such as utilities, food, water, waste, taxes?

 

Vanessa Bates

9 Years Ago

It takes artists to make money :D Developers love us because we till the soil for gentrification, hence the process that eventually prices us out of existence in any given area. Of course, this is a model best suited for a healthy economy ;)

Hope if anyone thinks about moving to Italy, they do their research. Some towns had been abandoned because earthquakes made them impractical to afford repairs.

And yes, there are the artists that have the potential to modify ear lobes…

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

I like it Jack. Good thinking - smart business man. --- I have no idea. I suppose it will all be included in your condo fee.

 

Vanessa Bates

9 Years Ago

Good point, Jack. It might be nice to know if a state exempts artistic endeavors from heavy taxation. And what about the logistics of supply? It's expensive to live in some towns because the delivery route is so far removed from other population centers. No one wants to make an extra trip for 700 people.

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Here is some town stats:

Population in 2013: 459 (0% urban, 100% rural). Population change since 2000: -26.2% (dropping like flies!!!!)
Males: 219 (47.7%)
Females: 240 (52.3%)
Median resident age: 48.8 years
Georgia median age: 39.7 years
Zip codes: 31090.

Estimated median household income in 2012: $33,707 (it was $26,250 in 2000)
Toomsboro: $33,707
GA: $47,209

Estimated per capita income in 2012: $18,990 (it was $13,679 in 2000)

Toomsboro town income, earnings, and wages data

Estimated median house or condo value in 2012: $43,309 (it was $41,100 in 2000)
Toomsboro: $43,309
GA: $142,300

Mean prices in 2012: All housing units: $68,924; Detached houses: $81,377; Mobile homes: $37,614
Median gross rent in 2012: $527.



Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Toomsboro-Georgia.html#ixzz3TWsZJJUQ

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

If we miss out on Toomsboro there are a few other opportunities - http://abcnews.go.com/Business/12-towns-sale-toomsboro-georgia-latest-town-sale/story?id=16243378#

I've been to Pray, MT a number of times. Home of the famous Chico's hot springs and resort.

Art Prints

 

David King

9 Years Ago

So, what exactly are you buying if you buy the "town". Obviously you won't actually own the whole town, there are residents there who own property.

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Yeah it looks like you really are buying a collection of restored buildings downtown. Nice train depot, inn, a few houses, stores. There is a list with floor plans on the site. Unfortunately the fantasy ends on the political end - you still have to deal with the town offices - zoning, permits, neighbors etc.

 

Vanessa Bates

9 Years Ago

Liability. Two developers bought out the town initially to turn it into a quaint tourist destination but put it back up on the market in 2012. Wonder why?

 

Vanessa Bates

9 Years Ago

How about a utility? I.E. water?

 

Vanessa Bates

9 Years Ago

And GA has some hideous state income taxes.

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Probably ran out of money.

I went to high school in a CT town in which a rich guy bought all kinds of historic buildings and had them moved to his property. He created a mini Henry Ford type village with ready to open restaurants and wedding chapel and everything.

Then he argued with the town about something or other and never opened. Everything just sat there ready to become a tourist destination or wedding center, then he died and everything is for sale.

Now its on Damned Connecticut - http://www.damnedct.com/johnsonville-east-haddam

 

Marlene Burns

9 Years Ago

I'll stick with ant colonies....

 

Roy Erickson

9 Years Ago

A good idea is to look at the map - this little burg is east of Macon - a reasonably 'cultured' city - but I've a feeling this is farm country - in summer it'll be hot and humid - in winter - perhaps not so bad. But I don't see any art tourists beating their path out into the sticks. It's not a "Taos" ore even a Jerome in AZ.

 

Vanessa Bates

9 Years Ago

No, and if you look at Macon's unemployment rate and average household income of that town, it's not likely an artist's colony can depend on regular local traffic either.

 

Mike Savad

9 Years Ago

everytime i read this i see it as nudist colony and then all kinds of horrible images run through my mind...

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

 

Edward Fielding

9 Years Ago

Vanessa - it will take awhile to get on the art tourism bus routes.

Mike's idea of art and nudism might work. No need to hire models for drawing classes. No paint covered clothes. Might help with the tourism too. Maybe the French will make the trip if there is a clothing optional option.

 

Mike Savad

9 Years Ago

i dunno where you'll find a truck big enough to import all that sunscreen. you'll need to set it up like a public shower.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

 

This discussion is closed.