Richard Butler's former home sold

Posted: Thursday, Sep 01, 2005 - 08:24:47 am PDT
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By MARC STEWART
Staff writer 

JASON HUNT/Press Former Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler's home in Hayden was auctioned off Wednesday for $160,700.

Woman, sister plan to work on house, sell it

COEUR d'ALENE -- Richard Butler's legacy is going, going, sold.

Cali Nieland bought the former home of the Aryan Nations founder Wednesday in a foreclosure auction. The Dalton Gardens woman and her sister, Cobi Straub, paid $167,700 for the split level home in Hayden.

"It's just an investment," Nieland said Wednesday. "The yard needs some TLC, but I don't know what the inside looks like. We're going to turn it around and sell it."

Neither Nieland nor Straub seemed concerned about the property's infamous owner or that it was formerly the headquarters of the white supremacist organization.

"It's just real estate," Straub said. "We're going to rehab it and sell it for more money than we bought it."

A crowd of about 40 people watched the auction on the steps of the First American Title building in Coeur d'Alene, but only a handful participated in it. There was a total of 61 bids on the property, which opened at about $103,500. Some investors grumbled that media attention drove the price of the home up.

Joe Jungen of Coeur d'Alene made more than a dozen bids, but was unable to buy the house.

"I am disappointed that we didn't get it," Jungen said. "We were hoping to get it at a good price. I know that the house has some water damage. It's going to take some work to get it to its potential."

The county assessed the 1,548-square-foot home and property at $138,400. The house sits on .262 acres and was built in 1991.

The home needs to be cleaned, and the yard is waist-deep in weeds. Real estate appraisers said the property could fetch up to $220,000 if it were in better condition.

Butler, who created the white supremacist group in the 1970s, lived out his final days in Hayden before dying from heart-related complications at age 86 last September. Butler left an unpaid balance of $91,486 on the home.

One onlooker commented that he wished he could buy the home and turn it into a Jewish center.

Tony Stewart, a political science instructor at North Idaho College and a longtime human rights advocate, was excited about the sale.

"It's a great victory," Stewart said. "It's the end of the headquarters of hate."