Northwest Arkansas castle to be auctioned

FILE - Dromborg Castle in southeast Fayetteville was completed in 2008.
FILE - Dromborg Castle in southeast Fayetteville was completed in 2008.

A hilltop castle in Northwest Arkansas previously listed for millions of dollars will be going up for auction starting Tuesday afternoon.

The Dromborg is made up of 4,000 tons of stone native to within 100 miles of the property and sits on 40 forested mountainside acres in Fayetteville, according to Katherine Hudson, the property’s listing agent. It was completed in 2008.

Concierge Auctions plans to auction the property off over a three-day period: Bidding opens Tuesday at 4 p.m. and will end Thursday at the same time, said Mitch Abundis, a project sales manager for the company.

Prospective buyers can place their bids online, Abundis said. There is no required minimum bid for the auction, and the castle will be sold to the highest bidder, no matter how low the price.

“It’s a very, very unique property,” Abundis said. “It’s a great investment opportunity, and with the option it’s an incredible chance to name your own price [for] a luxury home.”

Hudson, a real estate agent for Keller Williams Realty, said she has been working with the couple who built the home Bruce and Joan Johnson to sell the home for about three years. The home has been on the market for about eight years.

This, Hudson said, is typical of properties of its size and value. A Facebook page for the Dromborg still states the castle is being offered at $9.7 million.

“There’s just so few buyers,” she said. “It’s not even 1% of the market.”

According to a website for the property, the castle was hewn and fitted together stone by stone, with solid oak, cherry and walnut throughout its 12,000-square-foot interior. The property’s name comes from a Swedish word that roughly translates to “Dreams the size of mountains,” Hudson said.

Bruce Johnson is Swedish, according to Hudson, and together he and his wife own White River Hardwoods in Fayetteville.

“It’s a fabulous property,” Hudson said. “I’m excited for the auction. I’m very excited for them."

CORRECTION: The property is made up of 4,000 tons of stone. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the weight.

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