Top bidder for Idaho business gets Patty Duke's house, too
In what may be the ultimate piece of Patty Duke memorabilia on eBay, the Oscar-winning actress is offering her house in Hayden, Idaho, to the highest bidder.
But there's a catch: You'll have to buy a small software company to get it.
If you're thinking this sounds about as likely as identical cousins, Mike Kennedy promises that the online auction is totally legit.
Kennedy is president of Viewpoint Media Systems, a CD-ROM developer in nearby Coeur d'Alene. He's also Anna "Patty" Duke's nephew.
So when Kennedy and his partners decided to offer their company for sale on eBay, he figured why not sweeten the deal by throwing in his aunt's house, which has been on the market for months.
Call it an entire relocation package for an adventurous entrepreneur — or a television junkie.
Duke, the long-time television and movie actress who played a pair of temperamentally mismatched cousins on "The Patty Duke Show" in the 1960s, loved the idea.
"We haven't sold his business or my house yet, but we have been getting lots of calls," Duke said yesterday. "Mostly people are calling to say, 'Have you lost your minds?' "
The auction ends Feb. 12. As of yesterday, the bidding had reached about $175,000, far below the undisclosed reserve price, Kennedy said. But he and Duke are motivated sellers.
Ever since Viewpoint's founder and chief financier died of a heart attack last year, the remaining three partners have been trying to raise cash to keep the $250,000-a-year company growing. Viewpoint creates multimedia CD-ROMs that small communities can use to promote themselves.
"This is not the world's best market to raise capital," Kennedy said. "We thought, let's offer the whole shooting match and see what happens."
Work hasn't exactly been rolling in for Duke, who won best supporting actress for the 1962 movie "The Miracle Worker." Recently, after an eight-month dry spell, Duke landed a part on an upcoming movie for the Hallmark Channel.
"Fiscally, it was becoming clear to me that we were going to have to, as they say in this age, downsize," Duke said.
Duke listed the house and 40 acres of land for $760,000. She and her family intend to stay in Hayden after the house sells, online or off.
As for eBay, Duke said this is her first, and probably last, online auction.
"There is an old car, a nicely restored 1940s Chrysler," she said. "But I don't think we will be selling that."
J. Martin McOmber: 206-464-2022 or mmcomber@seattletimes.com