"We're ready for someone with new energy"; Amish Acres auctions off for over $4 million

 

NAPPANEE, Ind. --- Historic Amish Acres auctioned off for a total of $4,255,000 on Wednesday evening.

Amish Acres has been owned by the Pletcher family for over 50 years and it was a sentimental goodbye as the family passed ownership off to eager bidders.

"I'm excited for the town of Nappanee that new life is going to be breathed in to Amish Acres," said Jenni Wysong, daughter of the Pletchers. "It will be a viable part of this community as it always has been."

The property auctioned off into sections and sold for a grand total of $4,255,000. The highest bid went for sections 4-7 and 14-16 sold for $1,550,000. The second highest bid for sections 1 and 13 sold for $1,295,000.

There were a total of six total bidders in the final sale.

Amish Acres has become a staple in the Nappanee community, but the Pletcher family handed off the property to new faces on Wednesday.

"We were ready for someone with new energy and new life to come in and put their stamp on their creative force that my dad has made over the 50 years and add to his master plan, continue to develop what we did and serve the public that is ever-changing."

The auction lasted for several hours with various bidders competing against one another.

"I'm just overwhelmed. I know something happened, but I'm not sure what yet," said Richard Pletcher, now former owner of Amish Acres.

John Kruse and Marlin Stutzman, were thrilled to be two of the new owners of the Amish Acres property.

"We are excited to build off the legacy that's here and really focus on the community and our core belief of excellence so that we can make this a spectacular venue for decades into the future," said Kruse.

As for the future, Kruse and Stutzman plan to take what the Pletcher family did and build on top of it.

"It's going to be a lot of fun working in this space," said Stutzman. "I'm sure there will be changes, but we're excited to get to work on it."

"We hope that going forward that some of the things that we've accomplished live on and if they don't we wish the others well," said Pletcher.