Donegal Mills Plantation, a historic site in East Donegal Township, will go on the auction block Saturday.
In 200 years, Donegal Mills Plantation has seen the ups and downs of new owners, deterioration and restoration.
A registered historic site that once saw visitors tour its grounds, the plantation is set to pass to another new owner and "a new dream" at an auction at 1 p.m. Saturday, John Hess, of John M. Hess Auction Services, said.
The 67-acre property, on Trout Run Road in East Donegal Township, contains a mansion, grist mill, miller's house and bake house.
It dates to the 1700s and opened to the public in the early 1990s after then-owner Joanne Zink led restoration efforts.
After Zink became ill in the 1990s and died in 2008, the bed-and-breakfast, restaurant and grounds closed and fell into a state of disrepair.
"It's like someone needs to rescue it," Hess said.
Zink's four adult children, Nancy Marker, Corinda Kuntz, Frank Zink Jr. and George Zink are putting the property and an adjacent 110-acre farm up for sale as part of settling her estate, which Marker said was "a very hard family decision."
Hess said he estimates the property, which is preserved and cannot be sold for development, could sell for anywhere between $600,000 and $900,000, a range that could depend on whether the buyer's interests are agricultural or historical.
To a farmer, Hess said the state of the buildings could actually detract from the worth of the property.
Still, its "Williamsburg charm" could add to its value, though finding the right kind of buyer might be a challenge in today's market.
"You can almost feel the history there when you're standing on it," Hess said.
He said he expects 100 or 200 people to attend the auction, with a fraction of those being potential bidders because it is "such a significant purchase."
Marker said she is realistic about the interests of the buyer possibly being agricultural, but would love to see someone continue the property's historic legacy, which her mother, a "purist," believed in.
Over 200 years, owners of the property included three generations of Kraybills, who operated Donegal Mills in its heyday, with the first Jacob leaving land to build a church that would become the site of Kraybill Mennonite Church, graveyard and Kraybill Mennonite School.
Zink inherited the property from her father, George Brown II, in 1967 and owned it with her husband, Franklin Zink. She registered it with the National Register of Historic Places during restoration efforts.
