Live in Langston Hughes’ House for $85,000

Langston Hughes’ house is for sale for $85,000, and there is a two-car garage.

There is something so bizarre and satisfying about real estate listings, and never are they more satisfying that when we’re talking about the former houses of famous people. The enjoyment that comes from both the voyeuristic indulgence of the listing and the idealistic projection onto the artist is optimized when there is a direct correlation between mythical reverence of famous person and objective crappiness of listing photos. In the childhood home of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes, we have a perfect storm.

There is young Langston Hughes, left behind in Cleveland by his parents, and writing his first poetry alone in the third floor attic. Then there is the listing, which tells us that this attic has wall-to-wall carpeting and that the home is in walking distance to a hospital. (What situation would have you walking to a hospital?)

While nothing is more beguiling to me than reasonably-priced real estate listings in random Midwestern towns, my fantasies of having a sink in my bathroom and a dishwasher in the kitchen do not usually take place in Cleveland, Ohio. However, if anyone has any great tales of life in Cleveland, please let me know. I once heard someone bought a house there for $12,000 and she and her husband are now urban farmers who don’t need jobs.

Stories like this are welcome, as I will probably be spending the next hour paging through the Ohio houses in the sidebar that are even cheaper than $85,000.

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