A Lehigh Valley community bought a fire-damaged mansion for $1. What are its plans?

In November 2021, flames gutted a portion of a $6.4 million Salisbury Township mansion that had just been sold to a group of unidentified out-of-town investors.

It has remained vacant since then. A tarp covers one side of the house left exposed from where a turret once was. That area took the brunt of the fire damage, though the rest of the house sustained smoke and water damage. The landscape is unattended, and windows and doors are boarded up.

But now the home at 3015 Barrington Lane, which was built in 1997, has changed hands again, this time for a significantly smaller price.

Salisbury Township in May acquired the property at 3015 Barrington Lane, a cul-de-sac in a wealthy neighborhood of stately houses, for $1.

Despite the damage, township officials believe they can flip the house and use the sale proceeds for something good.

Ravenwood Manor, which listed an address in Milford, Pike County, essentially gave away the property it bought Nov. 15, 2021, for $6.4 million, township officials said.

“The reason the township accepted this donation was because they thought they could auction it off,” said Sandy Nicolo, Salisbury’s assistant manager.

One possibility, Nicolo said — though nothing is official yet — is using the sale proceeds toward making improvements to Laubach Park on Lehigh Avenue. Officials have said the park’s development plan needs about $1.5 million.

“I think it is a wonderful thing they did,” Commissioners President Debra Brinton said of Ravenwood. “We’re still not sure what we are going to do, but obviously the money will go back to the township.”

Attorney Ashley Zimmerman, who represented Ravenwood when it formed a limited liability company before taking possession of the home, did not return a message seeking comment.

The Lehigh County Assessment Office also shows the home and 4.6 acres have an assessed value of more than $1.3 million and an annual property tax bill of more than $41,500.

Brinton acknowledged the township could be on the hook for school and county taxes worth about $36,000, plus a settlement fee of nearly $15,000. But she said whatever taxes or other expenses Salisbury would incur would be offset by the mansion sale.

“How often does something like this happen, ‘We would like to gift this to your township’? ” Brinton said.

She said people donate to the community often, but not something of this grand scale. She wondered if other Lehigh Valley municipalities ever received a similar house gift.

The answer to that may well be no. Mallory L. Siegfried,  a spokesperson with the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors, said no one on the group’s staff was aware of a member Realtor who has experience with a property “that ended up in this kind of situation.”

Brinton said the former owners wanted to make the donation to thank the first responders who saved most of the house from the massive fire.

Authorities have not determined what caused the fire, which began in a turret adjacent to the main home. Dozens of firefighters battled the blaze, and two South Whitehall Township firefighters suffered burns and injuries.

Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com .