We pretty much covered our day at the West Seattle garage sales, except for the very last sale we hit. This was an estate sale, not part of the organized effort, and we just happened to spot their signs. And man, it was a doozy!

Pulling up, we could see one side of the house that looked like it was sort of falling in. The photo sort of gives you an idea of what was going on … it was even scarier in person.

Most of the sale was outside and the stuff was really pretty crusty. They had a bunch of odd metaphysical books, and a ton of unused Shaklee beauty products going back a few decades.

I overheard a woman say that they planned on doing an auction of the house, and she was going to take a guy on a tour to see the place. I very sweetly asked if Jenny and I could come along. I mean, when are you going to get to walk into a crumbling house that is set right on the water? Okay, in our case maybe more often than most … but still. This place was C-R-U-S-T-Y.

The very first thing we saw was the front entry way light that looked like mold was about to make it drop off the ceiling. Scary. Then we spotted the pool … and the view. It was one of the better views I have seen in Seattle.

We were lagging a little behind, and when we walked back into the house we found this organ and crazy wallpaper. Amazing. We were trying to stay on the tour, but it was hard not to stop and gawk a little.

Then I was super stoked to see this huge signed photo of Korla Pandit.

When I asked if it was for sale, she said $50. Hmm… Do I really need a 1 1/2′ x 2′ photo of Korla playing organ in my house?!?! The woman explained that her mom had owned the house and had played with him. They had known each other for 30 years and he had played the very organ we’d just walked past. (It also had his picture on it, although that one wasn’t for sale.)

When Jenny asked if she could take a picture, the woman gave her a really strange look — we thought she was going to say no, but she was just baffled that we’d want to. Then she took us upstairs. There wasn’t much left up there, but we did spot this 1958 Seattle Seafair art.

In the master bedroom, a huge chunk of the ceiling had fallen in. Really huge, like several feet across. The woman explained that her mom had been downstairs when it happened and had just heard the crash. It was right above her bed, so if she’d been up there it could have been really bad. At this point I needed to ask her how this happened … HOW THE HELL DID THIS WHOLE HOUSE END UP LIKE THIS???

The woman was very sweet. She said that she’d tried many times to help her mom take care of the place, but she refused help, and only after she had a stroke would she accept any help from the family.

She then showed me the fun fur tub and said it had a fun fur cover, so you could use it as a bench. Why????

Truly a one of a kind sale. Neither Jenny or I bought anything here, but it seemed like a good sale to end the day on.

And in case you need something like a unicorn chaser after those pictures, here’s Korla in action!