‘No Sale’ at Greenhurst Auction

By Martha Slater

Although one of Bethel’s historic landmarks, the Greenhurst Inn, was scheduled to be auctioned off Friday, Oct. 3, the actual auction was over in 15 minutes, with no sale resulting.

Surveying the crowd of about 50 people, auctioneer Thomas Hirchak called a halt to the proceedings after it became apparent that no one there was prepared to bid anywhere near what the sellers wanted.

Bidding was opened at $250,000 for the 7,000-sq.-ft. Victorian mansion on three-and-a-half acres, which had been appraised by the town at twice that amount. No one was willing to bid at that level, and Hirchak eventually asked for bids beginning at just $100,000. Although several bids were received, the highest was $130,000 and Hirchak stopped the auction, saying that his company and the seller, the Randolph National Bank, would work to find a buyer.

Joe Boyd, a senior vice president at the bank, confirmed at press time that there were several parties with serious interest in the property, and he hoped to have something definite to report within the next week.

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