Pope Benedict VXI has announced that he will retire effective the end of February. While Benedict will apparently live in a "congregation for cloistered nuns inside the Vatican," which sounds great, we'd like to suggest one option here in Seattle if he feels so compelled to retire in the Pacific Northwest.
While not officially on the market, this former church at 1104 17th Ave. E has a "make me move" offer on the table at $1.6M, which seems like easy scratch for the Pope to come up (pass the plate around three or four times). The property was originally a Presbyterian Church, which might not be perfect, but, close enough. Built in 1914, the 6-BR home sits on a 9K square-foot lot so there's plenty of room to park the Pope-mobile, assuming you get to keep the Pope-mobile post-Popehood.
Of course, this would mean that the Pope would become a neighbor to the "colorful" cast of characters that call Capitol Hill home. Even if he is grumpy about it, we suppose he can't any worse than the Hill's other new neighbors...
· 1104 17th Ave E, Seattle [Zillow]
· Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling [Seattle Times]
· Mars Hill Church's Move Courts Controversy [Curbed Seattle]