By now the whole world knows that the entire southern Oregon town of Tiller was up for sale. What's not known is the name or intentions of the buyer.

After news about the opportunity to purchase a slice of the American dream with little red tape went viral earlier this month, offers and ideas started pouring in.

The sleepy town once dominated by the logging industry could be anyone's with $3.85 million and a plan to retain the quiet ambiance and not disrupt the lives of the 250 people who live nearby, according to listing agent Garrett Zoller.

Three solid offers shot in quickly, and they're still rolling in.

Zoller of Medford-based Land and Wildlife realty received inquiries from Chinese investors and California developers. A man in New Jersey, hoping to escape the East Coast rat race, wanted to put together a group of friends to buy the unincorporated town in Douglas County and spend days fishing.

People looking at the possibility of developing a senior care facility, and buyers interested in using the land for hemp production also called.

Students in the U.K. volunteered to come up with futuristic design ideas. Representatives of nonprofits and other people suggested the town be donated to address social concerns, like homelessness, said Zoller.

The entire Southern Oregon town of Tiller is up for sale 38 Gallery: The entire Southern Oregon town of Tiller is up for sale

These ideas, like the young lady who thought Tiller could be the epicenter for free hugs, didn't come with the necessary funding: $3.5 million for the town and $350,000 for the closed elementary school plus millions more, a total of close to $10 million to restore and develop the 257 acres, estimates Zoller.

"The value is not the structures, but the accumulated land and the town's existing assets. It's the entire package," said Zoller.

A new owner wouldn't have to start from scratch. Sidewalks, curbs and water systems already exist.

"The land, acquired over about four decades by one family, with a post office already in place, offers a buyer the potential to do whatever they want within state and county laws," Zoller pitched to potential buyers. "It's an opportunity to do the development, and do it with a lot more elasticity and less bureaucracy."

By March 12, Zoller had locked in a deal with a qualified buyer.

In the end, despite a flurry of global interest, the first accepted offer came from a couple living in Ashland, about a 90-minute drive from Tiller, which is east of Interstate 5 along Oregon Route 227.

Zoller, who has lived in southern Oregon almost all of his life and professes his protection of tiny Tiller, says the new owners want to put together their ideas and will release their plan in a few weeks.

"They realize they have one shot at making a first good impression," he said in his office Tuesday. "I think people will be happy. There will not be dynamic change. No NASCAR raceway."

The community church, which attracts about 50 people during Sunday services, isn't for sale. Neither is the pastor's house or the volunteer-staffed fire station. But pretty much everything else is, including the land underneath the post office, which was established in 1902.

The South Umpqua School District was selling Tiller's elementary school, which started in the late 1800s as a one-room school house and has been closed for several years. The 16,588-square-foot building on 6.58 acres is also under contract by the same people.

Also part of the deal: The Tiller Store, a general store that's not currently operating, but includes a deli, a commercial kitchen, a gas pump, and an apartment.

Zoller, who has been grilled by the BBC and other media about Tiller, has become deft at interviews, while still abiding by his client's and the buyers' requests for privacy.

Zoller's client, Richard Caswell, represents his family's trust, which owns the town. Caswell's father, a local real estate developer, started buying up lots in the 1970s.

Timber was the dominant industry in this part of Oregon, but when it collapsed in the early 1990s, the mills closed and much of Tiller's population moved away.

"It wasn't the Caswells' intention to become one contiguous owner, but that's what happened," said Zoller.

Over time, the Caswells accumulated what's now up for sale:

28 different tax lots, making up more than 250 acres.

Multiple domestic and agricultural community water rights from a high-mountain spring, wells and the Umpqua River.

Nearly a mile of waterfront along the South Umpqua River and Elk Creek, including launch access for boats.

Approximately 2 million board feet of merchantable timber.

Six homes including two fronting the river.

The century-old homestead of pioneer Aaron Tiller, who planted fruit trees.

The town, which is an hour's drive from Crater Lake National Park, sits at an elevation of 1,020 feet, and is surrounded by the Umpqua National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands.

The area is primed for outdoor recreation, including camping, horseback riding, mountain biking, hunting and fly fishing. The town gets an average for 40 inches of rain each year, and about 3 inches of snow. The July high temperature is about 84 degrees, and the low for January is 33.

The new owners are a mystery. All Zoller would say now about the presumed buyers is that they "don't want to march into town like new sheriffs. They want to be friendly, diplomatic and show they have an open-mind approach. They hope to hold town hall meetings."

Here's what else we know:

The accepted contract involves people in an "industry," said Zoller, but not the "obvious ones." The presumed owners have "grand things in the works" that will be funded by money from California. "They have financial and other support from the industry," he said.

He said there will not be a casino. "The tribes didn't show any interest," he said. Tiller is 24 miles from Seven Feathers casino.

The new owners do not intend to make money in cannabis. "Douglas County is a conservative place," Zoller said, and one that restricts recreational marijuana sales.

He also said it would not be a rehab center or a re-creation of an old town like Knott's Berry Farm amusement park's Calico Ghost Town. And "the buyers have no interest in logging."

Pacific Power has a substation in the town, but the new owners aren't in a high-tech industry that relies on fast internet, Zoller said.

The new owners are not the usual suspects. Zoller shook his head "no" when asked specifically about Doug and Becky Neuman, who own Ashland and Medford properties such as the Ashland Springs Hotel, Lithia Springs Resort, Ashland Hills Hotel and Suites, Inn at the Commons, Waterstone Spa, Larks Home Kitchen Cuisine restaurants and Luna Cafe.

The new owners don't plan to triple the population, Zoller added. They will construct buildings, but "nothing extreme."

He said the plan is to help people get back to the land in an area with a long growing season and productive soils. "This isn't the last you'll be hearing about this."

He paused when pushed for more details. "I can't say anything now," he said. "But it's all positive. It won't disrupt the town."

— Janet Eastman with Grant Butler



jeastman@oregonian.com

503-799-8739

@janeteastman



