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Interview with Elizabeth Lapple

Aired December 27, 2002 - 14:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a little fixer-upper of a town, tucked in Northern California tops the "What the" segment. People thought the Lapple family was crazy for putting Bridgeville, California up for sale on eBay. Well, it sparked a bidding war, some of them exceeding two million bucks.
Elizabeth Lapple joins us on the phone from Bridgeville, California today -- Hi, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, can you hear me all right?

ELIZABETH LAPPLE, BRIDGEVILLE, CALIFORNIA: I can hear you just fine. Can you hear me?

PHILLIPS: I sure can. So tell me how much Bridgeville sold for today.

LAPPLE: Bridgeville sold for $1,777,877.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. Well, now tell me, why did you and the family want to sell this land that's been in your -- part of your heritage for so many years?

LAPPLE: Well, it just came to a point in time when I had other businesses going, and way too many things to do to dedicate all my time to running a town.

PHILLIPS: What did it take to run that town? What did you have to do?

LAPPLE: Well, you have your own water system. I mean, you own everything down to the street lights. You know, you have a lot of houses, tenants, and just a lot goes on there.

PHILLIPS: How many people live there?

LAPPLE: Right now, we only have about 25 or 30. We try to keep it small, because it's just, you know, we have more houses we could rent, but we're fairly particular who we rent to.

PHILLIPS: Do you know who bought your town?

LAPPLE: We're not sure yet. I mean, we know the name of who bought it, but because it was a private auction, we're not disclosing it until we actually speak to the people.

PHILLIPS: So how did you pitch Bridgeville? What are the advantages of owning this town? LAPPLE: Well, one thing that's great about it, a small town like that, is you can pick who lives there. There's very few places in the country where you can decide who your neighbors are.

PHILLIPS: That's pretty amazing. I bet you got a lot of small- town scoop. Tell us some legends.

LAPPLE: There's been a lot of things that have gone on in Bridgeville. I mean in our cemetery, for example, we have the last white man killed by the Indians in Humboldt County. He was stabbed, shot, and got it with the bow and arrows too.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. What about scandals? Any big scandals to come out of Bridgeville?

LAPPLE: It's pretty small to have any big scandals.

PHILLIPS: What about famous people?

LAPPLE: I don't think we have too many famous people that were actually born there.

PHILLIPS: Now, when you're born there, do you stay there, or do you move on to other places?

LAPPLE: I think, you know, some -- we have some life-long residents that live around the area, but not exactly in Bridgeville itself.

PHILLIPS: Well, are you going to stay living there now that it's going to be owned by someone else?

LAPPLE: No, I'll move out of Bridgeville. I'll stay in Humboldt County, but I'll move out of Bridgeville. You know, Bridgeville is a really beautiful, scenic spot, but it is 25 miles from the nearest town with, like, Safeway and stuff.

PHILLIPS: Now that -- you got to be close to Safeway.

LAPPLE: That's right.

PHILLIPS: You want those midnight runs. Now, why did you decide to put your property on eBay?

LAPPLE: Well, I have an eBay site, and I've sold on eBay for a few years, and I just thought that it would be a good venue that would get out to people all over the world, and not just in a small spot, you know, when you put a newspaper ad in, you only get the people from that actual place.

PHILLIPS: Well, Elizabeth, are you sure that everyone's going to be able to stay there, now that this new owner is coming in? Did you strike a deal?

LAPPLE: We have no idea what the new owner is going to do yet because we really haven't talked to him yet. PHILLIPS: Well, it will be very interesting. Do you know where he lives, or where he's from?

LAPPLE: The last I heard was Indiana, but I can't say for sure, because I haven't actually seen anything from him saying that that is where he is.

PHILLIPS: All right. Before we go, tell us just the one nugget about Bridgeville, why is this such a neat place?

LAPPLE: Well, there is a mile and a half on the river. It's the one place in Humboldt County -- Humboldt County sits on the coast, most of it, but Bridgeville is inland. So even when it's yucky, when you go to town to Eureka or Fortuna, it's always sunny and beautiful in Bridgeville. And that's one of the best points of it.

PHILLIPS: Well, I can just see the book. You know, the what happened to Bridgeville. Elizabeth Lapple, thanks for being with us.

LAPPLE: All right. Thank you very much. You have a great day.

PHILLIPS: All right. You too, and we'll follow up to see what happens to Bridgeville and who, indeed, bought this area for more than a million bucks via eBay.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 27, 2002 - 14:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, a little fixer-upper of a town, tucked in Northern California tops the "What the" segment. People thought the Lapple family was crazy for putting Bridgeville, California up for sale on eBay. Well, it sparked a bidding war, some of them exceeding two million bucks.
Elizabeth Lapple joins us on the phone from Bridgeville, California today -- Hi, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, can you hear me all right?

ELIZABETH LAPPLE, BRIDGEVILLE, CALIFORNIA: I can hear you just fine. Can you hear me?

PHILLIPS: I sure can. So tell me how much Bridgeville sold for today.

LAPPLE: Bridgeville sold for $1,777,877.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. Well, now tell me, why did you and the family want to sell this land that's been in your -- part of your heritage for so many years?

LAPPLE: Well, it just came to a point in time when I had other businesses going, and way too many things to do to dedicate all my time to running a town.

PHILLIPS: What did it take to run that town? What did you have to do?

LAPPLE: Well, you have your own water system. I mean, you own everything down to the street lights. You know, you have a lot of houses, tenants, and just a lot goes on there.

PHILLIPS: How many people live there?

LAPPLE: Right now, we only have about 25 or 30. We try to keep it small, because it's just, you know, we have more houses we could rent, but we're fairly particular who we rent to.

PHILLIPS: Do you know who bought your town?

LAPPLE: We're not sure yet. I mean, we know the name of who bought it, but because it was a private auction, we're not disclosing it until we actually speak to the people.

PHILLIPS: So how did you pitch Bridgeville? What are the advantages of owning this town? LAPPLE: Well, one thing that's great about it, a small town like that, is you can pick who lives there. There's very few places in the country where you can decide who your neighbors are.

PHILLIPS: That's pretty amazing. I bet you got a lot of small- town scoop. Tell us some legends.

LAPPLE: There's been a lot of things that have gone on in Bridgeville. I mean in our cemetery, for example, we have the last white man killed by the Indians in Humboldt County. He was stabbed, shot, and got it with the bow and arrows too.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh. What about scandals? Any big scandals to come out of Bridgeville?

LAPPLE: It's pretty small to have any big scandals.

PHILLIPS: What about famous people?

LAPPLE: I don't think we have too many famous people that were actually born there.

PHILLIPS: Now, when you're born there, do you stay there, or do you move on to other places?

LAPPLE: I think, you know, some -- we have some life-long residents that live around the area, but not exactly in Bridgeville itself.

PHILLIPS: Well, are you going to stay living there now that it's going to be owned by someone else?

LAPPLE: No, I'll move out of Bridgeville. I'll stay in Humboldt County, but I'll move out of Bridgeville. You know, Bridgeville is a really beautiful, scenic spot, but it is 25 miles from the nearest town with, like, Safeway and stuff.

PHILLIPS: Now that -- you got to be close to Safeway.

LAPPLE: That's right.

PHILLIPS: You want those midnight runs. Now, why did you decide to put your property on eBay?

LAPPLE: Well, I have an eBay site, and I've sold on eBay for a few years, and I just thought that it would be a good venue that would get out to people all over the world, and not just in a small spot, you know, when you put a newspaper ad in, you only get the people from that actual place.

PHILLIPS: Well, Elizabeth, are you sure that everyone's going to be able to stay there, now that this new owner is coming in? Did you strike a deal?

LAPPLE: We have no idea what the new owner is going to do yet because we really haven't talked to him yet. PHILLIPS: Well, it will be very interesting. Do you know where he lives, or where he's from?

LAPPLE: The last I heard was Indiana, but I can't say for sure, because I haven't actually seen anything from him saying that that is where he is.

PHILLIPS: All right. Before we go, tell us just the one nugget about Bridgeville, why is this such a neat place?

LAPPLE: Well, there is a mile and a half on the river. It's the one place in Humboldt County -- Humboldt County sits on the coast, most of it, but Bridgeville is inland. So even when it's yucky, when you go to town to Eureka or Fortuna, it's always sunny and beautiful in Bridgeville. And that's one of the best points of it.

PHILLIPS: Well, I can just see the book. You know, the what happened to Bridgeville. Elizabeth Lapple, thanks for being with us.

LAPPLE: All right. Thank you very much. You have a great day.

PHILLIPS: All right. You too, and we'll follow up to see what happens to Bridgeville and who, indeed, bought this area for more than a million bucks via eBay.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com