The float home used as MacGyver's house, in 4 seasons of the show, is up for sale for the second time in 2 years. However this time it's less than half the original asking price and in dire need of repairs.

Advertised yesterday on Craigs List as a "Fixer Upper" the Lands End float home is listed at $36,000, a fraction of it's original $200,000 price tag. The listing states that the floats need repairing and the house itself is in need of some TLC, although non of the internal images show any obvious damage, there is visible damage to the railing on the outside deck.

The float home was originally used in seasons 3-6 of the long running action-adventure TV show 'MacGyver' where it was inaccuracy refereed to as a house boat - inaccurate because houseboats have motors for self propulsion and are designed as livable boats, where-as Float homes must be towed into position and are designed to remain docked.

The house was sold in late 2012 after extensive renovations had been carried out by it's then owners who had purchased the home after Paramount Studios had finished using it. At the time of their sale the house was in immaculate condition; listed as still being located at Grants Landing, Vancouver, the float home has now obviously been left to run down since the purchase.





Update: Jan 24, 2015

We've had confirmation that the home was sold on Jan 12, 2015. No further details are available.

If I had the money I'd buy this and turn it into a MacGyver / StarGate museum and run filming location tours around Vancouver.

OH! SOOOOO Tempting.

I would do the same, turn it into a "MacGyver" museum and offer it to RDA or any other actor from the series to stay in when they are in town.

So sad... I would love to see it get the attention it needs. It needs a MacGyver family to love it and take care of it.

In a few years I might have the money for it, but I don't know how I'd get it from Vancouver to Kentucky... LOL

Do it Jedi. Do it! May the Force be with you!

From 200,000 to 36,000 $. If I'd live there, I'd buy in a instant. Getting the houseboat from America across to Europe is another matter.

Current owners not happy with it or can't they pay for the renovations? I think it's quite odd that the boat was sold two years ago for two thousand after extensive renovations and that now it's just seems to be falling apart. It's not exactly been taken care of.

There must be some hidden serious damage for it to drop down to the same price as a new car.

This is just a guess, but I wonder if it's ice damage. I'm not familiar with float homes, but one can assume if there's damage to the floats, that it might have been damage caused by ice that was left unchecked. I'm sure there might be other factors though. O_o

Still sad to see it just sit there in that state.

I have to wonder, if the float home had been left as it was on "MacGyver", fake kitchen window and all, would it have sold for the $200,000 they originally asked for it? I believe it would have.

Has anybody contacted RDA to see if he'd be willing to buy it and restore it to its former glory, you know, as a gift to his fans?

Are there any other MOL members willing to go in on a time share arrangement with me? It's doable, 36 of us at $1,000 a piece. We each then get it for one week a year, which would leave 16 weeks to have it open to the public for tours. I'm on to something here or should that be I'm on something here?

The time share idea actually passed through my mind as well when I first saw this news.

I'd love to see RDA purchase this and turn it into a MacGyver (& star gate) museum from which all the proceeds could go to his charities.

I've heard he has a whole room full of MacGyver stuff so it could all be put on display. Not sure how much SG:1 stuff he has, but the combination of both would ensure a better flow of visitors etc to the Houseboat.

As you mentioned, at that price, the foundation is either falling apart or there is a poltergeist in there.

The time share arrangement is not a bad idea and I also like the idea of RDA buying it and turning it into a museum for his charities.

It's a pity to see it so damaged . If I could bring it here I'd buy it and get it repaired.

Most likely Murdoc...

I like the ideas, I'm seeing here though. Maybe contact RDA to see if he's interested.

How cool to spend one week at MacGyver's houseboat. I would be happy to participate buying this, but so many questions. The current condition, repairs, overall maintenance costs etc.

Would be amazing to have that house. I dreamt of living there since the show the started.

I've always wondered about the plumbing situation. I assume since there are no hook ups, that the toilet is a septic tank system, which would result it weekly maintenance. Is there a water tank for the sink, dishwasher and shower supply? How big is it? How often does it have to be replenished? What is the cost of the above services?

What about Mr. Winkler and/or Mr. Zlotoff? Maybe they would be willing to help, you know, for the fans. It couldn't hurt to ask.

I wondered that myself actually about the plumbing. I kinda just figured when it's docked, you have a water hookup, with maybe a reserve tank for when you're not docked.

Other then that, I have no idea. lol Very possible the plumbing froze over or something. Who knows. That happened to us when we moved to NY. One of the pipes froze and then burst, and since we were still in the process of moving, the burst pipe wasn't taken care of right away... and that caused the ceiling in our living room to collapse.

I wouldn't mind helping towards a "Save MacGyver's Float Home" fund, or something like that.

So your probably looking at $100k minimum to buy it, restore it, make it safe and up to municipal building code standards for general population access, wheelchair accessible yada, yada, yada. I'd be interested in a couple of shares if the business plan had some good legs & wings. My problem with museums et al is that there are a lot of them starving in this day and age - so it may need more than just the nostalgic attraction thing to fly nonstop.

I can see this turning into a whole tourist business. Much like the tours people can take throughout Hawaii that take them to the various locations "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" were filmed, we could start a tour business that takes people to the locations where "MacGyver" and "Stargate" were filmed.

With the work that MOL member MiracleMac has done in identifying the different filming locations we're a good part of the way there. The tour could start at the Cube building (aka the phoenix foundation) where each tour would receive their "assignment" and end at the float home where there would be souvenirs to purchase along with a cardboard cut out of MacGyver people could have their pictures taken with. Ideally we could rent the same marina slip they used on the show.

The cost of the tour and souvenirs would go to keeping the tour running, while donations could be made to Sea Sheppard or any other RDA approved charity.

I believe the Marina has been redeveloped? Didn't somebody on this forum say so?
If you want to open the floating home to the public, you might have to consider regulations concerning the outbreak of a fire.

Although I think the idea of a museum has a lot of appeal, I think the house should be owned privately and lived in. If I win the lottery this week, you're welcome to the house-warming party.

If there were 36 of us here and I had the funds I'd be onboard. I'd also fix whatever needs repaired personally myself, there's no aspect of building I can't do, and a perfectionist to boot. But first order would be tearing off that gastly red awning, that's just awful.

Alas, there are not three and six of us to be found, the kingdom of Mac still yet suffers dark times. Ok, that was just cheesy. I'm trying to round up $1000 of my own to get started on my house right now.

Yeah. I was thinking about it. Maybe, that is it. It's been used as a "party barge". Wouldn't you?

I am the realtor for this home. I want to answer some of the multitude of questions as best I can. With so many fans I could not ignore your concerns. The home has fallen into disrepair over many years since it was last used as a set. It has a slow leak in one or more of the three 40 foot tanks that support the home. This is potentially a challenge to repair as the home needs dry dock to fix this. At this time there are several interested parties who may step up and do the work.

I just thought this might help some of you understand the situation. It is still possible that it may never be saved but I will do my best to find it someone who will bring it back to its glory.

Kat


Image added by admin: Here you can see the support tanks.


This post has been edited by KiwiTek on 20 November 2014 - 02:30 AM

A dry dock? And I was hoping to MacGyver the float leaks with some Shoe Goo and duct tape.

Seriously what's the estimated cost to repair her in a way that makes her safe, seaworthy and up to snuff per municipal codes? What's the human capacity(number it can safely hold at any one time) of this float ?

Thanks for the information KitKat.

Sounds like a bit of work indeed. But hopefully someone will purchase it.

Thank you Kitkat .It's very sad to hear that.
It reminds me of Magnum PI's house in Hawaii.Whenever they can ,fans go there ,take pictures and see how derelict it has become .For us ,it means a lot .Let's hope someone will buy the float home and will repair it.

I'm not a big fan of the new paint color.

It is quite a job to repair this house by the sounds of things.

More so that the age of those tanks represent a potential risk of further leakage in the future. Even if you fix the existing ones.

A huge amount of heavy duty machinery is required to repair this and with all the equipment required, this could result in a small fortune.

I really hope someone tries to think out the box for this and use cost cutting methods that still work in order to do what is needed.

It will be a real shame to see this iconic house fall apart.

The irony is that it could actually require MacGyver himself to fix this place.