The Story of Denning Castle

Once upon a time, there lived a man who needed his castle sold. Fear not, I declared, for Wes Jones & Associates maketh a plan!

Years ago, I got a phone call from a gentleman named Ron Denning who told me he had built a castle on 20 acres of land down in Graham, just south of Puyallup. I was excited, because I had always wanted to work with a property that was so unique. When I came to see Denning Castle in person, it did not disappoint; it was the most overbuilt thing I’d ever seen, and I mean that in a positive way. 

This castle came with turrets, a plethora of medieval artifacts and weaponry, and two-foot-thick walls—the perfect place to survive an apocalypse! It also came with a dungeon, a wine cellar, and a super cool hidden passageway. Mr. Denning had apparently grown up captivated by the medieval time period, and with this custom castle, he was finally able to live out his dream. 

However, he told me that, after having enjoyed the property for some years, it was time for him to move on and for someone else to enjoy the one-of-a-kind castle lifestyle. He wanted to sell the home with 98% of everything in it—armor and all. Again, I was thrilled to be a part of this, but the question then became, “How do you market something that’s so unique?”

If you have a fun vision in mind for your home, by all means, go for it. 

Though never having been in this situation before, I knew exactly what to do. I went to the property and grabbed all the photos and videos I could possibly get, then housed them all on one website. Once I had an easily navigable site showcasing the castle’s magic, I reached out to the local media. We ended up getting tons of organic coverage, the extent of which you couldn’t even buy if you had endless resources. 

We landed on the front page of the Tacoma News Tribune; King 5 News came down for a segment; and we benefited from several radio spots as well—essentially, we went viral because, well, who doesn’t love a good castle story? 

If you want to see exactly what we did to market this place and see all of the best photos of it, visit the original site we created. The next question people asked me is, “Wes, how do you even price a castle?” ‘Tis a fair question, indeed. 

Believe it or not, there were actually several castles within 30 to 40 miles that we were able to pull from. Additionally, we looked at some homes on acreage in the luxury price points to get an idea. Another valuable lesson: Your sentimental evaluation of a property you spent a lot of time on won’t necessarily translate into a price the public is willing to pay. 

Though this story had a happy ending for Mr. Denning, the fact remains that the market may not see your hyper-customized, niche home the way you do. If you have a fun vision in mind for your home, by all means, go for it, but understand that you’re doing so for your own purposes, not the market’s purposes.

If you ever have questions about where your money should be going when it comes to home improvements, I’d love to talk with you. Furthermore, if you or someone you know has a property that’s unique and needs a specialized marketing job similar to the one we employed for Denning Castle, reach out by phone or email; we’d love to put together a plan for it to get it sold.