Oakland puts historic Montclair fire house up for sale

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Who would guess that one of the hottest properties on the Bay Area real estate market would be an actual fire house, and an historic one at that.

The City of Oakland is offering two parcels for sale in Montclair, including the historic Montclair fire station. The architecture is reminiscent of a small gingerbread house, and it's been vacant for some time, as a short tour of the inside would indicate.

Still, it's a unique prospect for potential buyers like April Howell Young and her husband Douglas, who was raised in the area and grew up to be a firefighter.

"This is one of the first fire houses I remember coming to as a kid, about five years old. And I remember I was looking at the fire house and the big fire engines and looking at the guys dressed really nice and very professional. And one of the old firefighters, and old African-American gentlemen put his hat and his helmet on me and put me on the truck as a five year old, and I thought it was the coolest thing," Young remembers.

But like other potential buyers, the Youngs would be looking at a $500,000 opening bid, with no idea what it could eventually cost to restore the historic building.

Written and produced by Tim Didion.