UNIQUE PROPERTY: Former store for sale as residence in Hartline
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 3 weeks AGO
The former Hartline Store, standing in downtown Hartline since 1917, still looks like a small-town general store from the outside, but within it’s a fully remodeled living space with oodles of storage.
COURTESY PHOTO/HEIDI VAN DIEST
The kitchen in Hartline’s store-turned-home measures more than 300 square feet, leaving plenty of space for seating or an island.
The living and dining room windows at the front of the former Hartline Store open out onto Hartline’s main drag, with a cafe right across the street.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | September 20, 2024 3:00 AM
HARTLINE — One home for sale in Hartline wasn’t always a home.
“It's an interesting property,” said Heidi Van Diest of Moses Lake Realty Group, who has the home listed for $100,000. “It used to be a grocery store, and they turned it into a home. It's got two bedrooms, one bathroom, and then an unfinished basement.”
The former Hartline Store was built in 1917 and served the tiny town in northern Grant County for decades. The former storekeeper sold it in 1994, according to county records, although it was unclear exactly when the store closed.
“My sellers bought it to live in, and did some renovations, and then they moved away, so they're listing it for sale now,” Van Diest said.
As a former grocery, it boasts impressive storage capacity, Van Diest said, including an unfinished basement and large storage rooms in the back. The living room and dining room at the front of the building face out onto Willard Street, across from Kenice’s Cafe. Older homes often have small kitchens, but the former store’s cooking area has been converted into more than 300 square feet of kitchen space, according to the floor plan.
The house is smack in the middle of downtown, but Hartline’s downtown is quieter than many residential neighborhoods in bigger towns. Because of its location, it’s zoned both commercial and residential, so a potential buyer would have no issue operating a business out of it if they chose.
“It's hard to find anything livable for $100,000 so it's a really, really good deal,” Van Diest said. “You really can't find anything for that price in Grant County.”
The house would also make a good vacation home, Van Diest said.
“That small-town vibe, and it's really close to Banks Lake too,” she said. “I've already got a couple calls from people who like to fish and are just kind of looking for a place to park their boat and hang out on the weekends … So if someone is just looking for a little vacation place, close to all these lakes, that's just a great opportunity.”
The kitchen in Hartline’s store-turned-home measures more than 300 square feet, leaving plenty of space for seating or an island.
The living and dining room windows at the front of the former Hartline Store open out onto Hartline’s main drag, with a cafe right across the street.