Cottage Site Transactions

State endowment trust land has been leased for use as residential sites, known as cottage sites, since the early 1900s. Over the past several decades cottage site lessees have expressed a desire to purchase the endowment land they lease, thus unifying the estate (ownership) of both structure (cottage) and land (site). In 2010, the Land Board voted to divest ownership of cottage sites at Priest Lake and Payette Lake and directed IDL to develop the voluntary auction for ownership (VAFO) process. In 2018, the Land Board approved a plan that would allow for additional VAFO auction cycles through 2024.  A plan for future Auction Cycles between 2025 and 2039 was approved by Land Board Commissioners in the 2025 Cottage Site Plan. 

Updates: Cottage Site Auctions

• The next auction for leased lots at Priest Lake will be held in summer 2023.
• No applications were submitted for the 2023 VAFO Payette Lakes Auction cycle, therefore, no auction will be scheduled.
• Information on leased sites that will be available at auction for Priest Lake will be available in summer 2023 and can be viewed at Bottles Real Estate Auctions upon availability of materials (anticipated in July 2023).

Voluntary Auction for Ownership

• The applicant must be the current cottage site lessee in good standing.
• The auction is a public, oral, competitive auction.
• Each site is actively marketed prior to the auction date.
• Anyone can participate in a direct sale auction after going through the application process.

Unleased Land Auction

• The next auction for unleased lots at Priest Lake will be held in summer 2023.
• Information on unleased sites that will be available at auction for Priest Lake will be available in summer 2023 and can be viewed at Bottles Real Estate Auctions. 
• The auction is a public, oral, competitive auction.

On-line Bidding Option

This year, lessees and non-lessee bidders have the option to bid on-line using the platform Proxibid. Please see information and instructions: 1) Remote Bidding Information and 2) Holding Earnest Money (Remote Bidder). Please e-mail Emily Mueller at emily@markbottles.com at Corbett Bottles Real Estate Auctions, for more information.

Land Exchange

The IDL director suspended all pending and future land exchange proposals involving cottage sites from consideration or further evaluation until the legal and policy related concerns about cottage site land exchanges can be further examined.