This unique bookstore and ranch needs a new owner (with $1.52 million to spare).

January 28, 2022 : I have a terrible habit of going on the internet and looking at properties I can’t afford. (A hobby many of my fellow millennials share, I’m sure.) From my cramped Brooklyn apartment with pots of spaghetti piled haphazardly in the kitchen, I like to criticize the design choices of millionaires (Otis does too) on the Upper West Side (Otis does this literally anywhere). And sometimes I set my search a little wider and dare to dream of running away from the city and everyone I know and starting a life anew.

If you are feeling similarly stir crazy, perhaps this listing for Singing Wind Ranch will appeal to you, too. Located in Benson, Arizona, this gorgeous 500-acre property is for sale. For a cool $1.52 million, you can have a working cattle ranch of your very own! Just think of all the perks: fresh milk! You can reenact City Slickers! But wait—there’s more!

Singing Wind Ranch is home to Singing Wind Bookshop, which opened in 1974. It’s a little bit off the beaten path, but that hasn’t stopped people from visiting (and re-visiting) the shop. I imagine stumbling upon a bookstore in the desert is a little bit like a perfect mirage—something magic. Plus, Singing Wind Bookshop is home to the largest collection of Southwest literature in the entire country!

The original bookstore/ranch owner, Winn Bundy, sadly passed in 2020. (I went on a little bit of a deep dive about her fascinating life, and if you’re curious about how someone started a bookstore in the middle of nowhere and turned it into somewhere—hint: with $600 she earned from dog-sitting two naughty German Shepherds—read on.) Her family is dreaming of a buyer who is also a book lover to keep her legacy alive. Could it be you?

[via The Arizona Daily Star]