Historic Sauer Castle listed for sale at $10 million

By NATHAN VICKERS

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    KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KCTV, KSMO) — The owner of the 150-year-old Sauer Castle has listed it for sale with a staggering asking price of $10 million.

The listing on MLS, Zillow and other online platforms surprised local realtors and historians who have been following the saga of the historic mansion for years.

Diane Euston, who has written extensively about the Sauer Castle and its owner, Carl Lopp, saw the Zillow page posted in a facebook group of residents interested in the restoration of the building.

Euston’s work has documented extensive damage to the structure and ongoing efforts by the United Government of Wyandotte County to assess damage to the building and possibly use eminent domain to acquire it from Lopp.

“He [Lopp] done nothing for 30-plus years but let it rot,” Euston said.

Curtis Jay, a local realtor with property listings near the castle, said he and several colleagues were baffled to see the listing.

“When I saw it I started laughing,” he said. “The office started laughing. We thought it must be a joke.”

No home in the Kansas City area is currently listed at the $10 million dollar price point.

In 2019 KCTV5 showed you a megamansion in Lake Quivira that went on the market for more than $11 million. The property sat at the highest point in Wyandotte County and featured a series of manmade caves and grottos for scuba diving.

The property, known as “The Spirit of Avalon” sold in 2019 for less than $3 million.

By contrast, the Sauer Castle would be considered a fixer-upper. It sustained significant damage from a microburst several years ago, and was hit hard by another storm in the summer of 2021.

“For 10 million I better be overlooking the ocean and it better be in much better shape than this,” Jay said. “It is a bad financial move.”

Neither Lopp nor the realtor designated on the listing returned KCTV5’s messages and calls. Lopp is a descendant of the original owner, Anton Sauer.

He insisted in a 2020 story that the damage to the castle was purely cosmetic and called the city’s efforts to shore up the building damaging.

“It is outrageous with the city is doing,” he said. “They’re damaging this national historic landmark. In their boarding process, the original wood is being destroyed by them. It’s shameful.”

The United Government sent a statement to KCTV5 acknowledging the listing. A spokesperson wrote:

“In regard to your inquiry about the Sauer Castle located in the Rosedale Neighborhood, it is our understanding that the castle has been listed under contract for the price of $10 Million dollars. The UG Property Maintenance Division will still be pursuing property maintenance violations on the property. No administrative citations or special assessments will be waived.” “According to the UG Appraiser, we have confirmed that the property was valued at $41,830.00.”

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