Lighthouses for Sale in Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay

Which lighthouses are for sale in Virginia?

One lighthouse is for sale in Virginia right now: Smith Point, listed at $450,000 cash since April 2024. Middle Ground, off Newport News, went from a $995,000 listing in June 2026 to a closed sale in September. Maryland’s Hooper Island sold at a federal auction in 2022 for $192,000.

Both Virginia lights are Chesapeake Bay caisson towers. An iron cylinder sits on the bay bottom, the living quarters rise inside it, and the lantern room caps the tower. Both remain active aids to navigation maintained by the Coast Guard.

What did the Bay’s lighthouses sell for the first time?

Smith Point sold at a federal auction in 2005 for $170,000. Middle Ground sold at auction the same year for $31,000. Hooper Island sold in 2022 for $192,000 after opening at $15,000. Each first sale was a fraction of the later asking price for the restored ones.

Smith Point now asks 2.6 times what its owner paid, and Middle Ground listed at about 32 times its auction price after a restoration that took three to four years. See the sold lighthouses table for each price and its source.

How do you reach a Bay lighthouse?

You reach a Bay lighthouse by boat. Smith Point stands 2.5 miles off Reedville at the mouth of the Potomac. Middle Ground is in Hampton Roads beside one of the busiest shipping channels on the East Coast, and its listing said to stay away without permission. Hooper Island has no dock and sits in a Navy danger zone.

Plan the landing before the purchase. Middle Ground was listed with a service vessel, and its ladder was once hanging from a single bolt when the owners bought it. Ask each seller what the landing is and who keeps it up.

What should you check on a Bay lighthouse?

Check the iron, the water, the power and the paperwork. Smith Point lists repairs still needed to rails, windows and the watch room floor, and runs on a generator and stored water. Middle Ground added solar and batteries. Hooper Island bars overnight stays under its Navy agreement.

Every Bay lighthouse here carries National Register status and Coast Guard access rights. Run the full lighthouse buyer’s checklist before you bid or make an offer.