BATH, Pa. - Neighbors of a house in Bath call it a landmark. For around two decades, a man has been collecting life-like animals and other figures. They've sat across his front lawn, while many passersby have enjoyed their presence. Now, that house is up for sale, and many are sad to say goodbye.
Melanie Dziadual was driving through the neighborhood to show her husband the house on Friday night. She says she's lived most her life in Bath, but now is in Moore Township.
"It is a landmark, because it's been here forever," Dziadual said.
For about 20 years, Craig Swope has collected the 31 fiber-glass replicas of lions, tigers, leopards, zebras, a polar bear, a yeti and more, according to his family.
"It was one of those things," Swope's brother-in-law, Tony Czonstka, told 69 News. "It made him happy, and if it made him happy, we were okay with it."
And it certainly made many neighbors happy.
"It's always something nice to look at, the little kids like to look at it, we take our grandkids by it," Dziadual said.
"I think it's cool to see all those animals there," 10-year-old Hadley Miller tells 69 News.
Miller lives down the street from Swope's house and says her daycare used to play a game with the kids, where they would guess which animals would be out on display at a given time.
"He would hide things from the back and he would rotate them out," Hadley's mom, Nicole Miller, said. "It wasn't always the same. He would change them often."
But sadly, Swope's house is now for sale. The family says the 69-year-old is going into continued care. The figures will be auctioned off to help pay for that.
And many around town are sad to see it go.
It's sad," Hadley's dad, Glenn Miller, said. "I guess if we walked by there and they're not there anymore. It's, you know? Then it's just a memory."
"It's a shame that it's not going to be here anymore," Dziadual said. "But I guess things change."
On social media, a post announcing the auction has nearly 500 shares and hundreds of comments, with plenty of prospective buyers.
Melanie Dziadual says she's been eyeing Swope's giant grizzly bear.
"I would go up to $100 for that big bear," she said.
The auction house's president tells 69 News the bear was originally purchased for somewhere around $2,000. Right now, the bidding is up to $375 for the bear on the online auction.
But while folks can pre-bid now, it actually goes live at 5 p.m. on June 21.