I'm Trading The One-Red-Paper-Clip House

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Editor's Note: Originally from Belcarra, British Columbia, Canada, Kyle MacDonald has planted more than one hundred thousand trees, delivered more than one thousand pizzas, and eaten one scorpion. He has also traded one red paper clip for a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan - and he's looking to trade up again. Any takers?

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I started with one red paper clip on July 12th, 2005, which I posted on the Internet to see if anyone wanted to trade. I ended up trading the red paper clip for a pen shaped like a fish. Then I traded the pen for a doorknob, and the doorknob for a camping stove. Over the course of a year, I traded 14 times and wound up with a house in Kipling. Now, I’m looking to make a trade with someone for the house.

A few days ago, I posted my intention to trade on my blog. I'd like to keep trading and see where it takes me. We’ve lived in the house off and on for the last couple years, but I haven’t been able to spend as much time in Kipling as I’d like because my family is elsewhere. I really don’t want the house to sit empty.

The house is a two-story farmhouse on Main Street. It’s a smaller, older house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, fully furnished. We redid the wood floors and painted it, and it’s got a giant red paper clip on the front lawn. The house itself is quite important, not only to me but to the community of Kipling as well. I guess it has a bit of notoriety because it’s the house some guy traded a red paper clip for! Just around the corner there is the world’s largest red paper clip, which the town of Kipling put up last summer. It's now in the Guinness Book Of World Records.

I don’t really have anything particular that I’m looking for, but I would like to keep in mind that the person I trade with would do something interesting with the house; either live in it or open up some sort of small business. It is quite a tourist attraction for Kipling and the surrounding community so I just want to make sure I trade with someone who keeps that in mind. I’m getting a lot of offers from Russia, actually.

Trade Details: I will accept offers on the house until July 11, 2008 and will make the trade shortly thereafter. If someone makes an offer that I can’t refuse – if it’s just too good and is time sensitive – I will beat out the deadline and make the trade immediately. So if anyone out there wants to make a trade, don’t hesitate!

You can make offers here: oneredpaperclip@gmail.com [1]

Visit the oneredpaperclip [2] website

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Over the course of a year, I traded 14 times and wound up with a house in Kipling. Now, I’m looking to make a trade with someone for the house.

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