Buy doll house for $169,000, get real thing

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Like many homeowners around the country, Gerry and Cindy Mann have struggled to sell their house during the past year.

So they decided to use a more creative sales approach: Buy a miniature replica of the home for $169,000 and get the real thing thrown in for free.

“After a year I was thinking, ‘I don’t know, I have this dollhouse sitting in my basement; let me see if I can do some creative marketing,”’ Gerry Mann, 60, told the Battle Creek Enquirer for a story Tuesday.

The Manns, who are planning to retire to Brighton, Mich., are caught in the national housing slump.

Cindy Mann’s father, the late Ron Caldwell, fashioned the dollhouse to resemble the home. Using a scale of 1 foot to 1 inch, he built the model about 15 years ago for the couple’s three now-grown children to enjoy.

The Manns estimate the dollhouse is worth a couple thousand dollars.