Woman buys whole town near famous US national park for $3.4 million

A tiny town at the foothills of the world’s oldest national park has been snapped up for the price of a suburban Sydney house. 

The historic village of Pray, Montana is a 45-minute drive from Yellowstone National Park in the US. 

It’s not a big place – the entire hamlet consists of three log cabins, a duplex, a store and a post office – but it’s enough to have its own postcode. 

Since it was founded in 1907, the town of Pray has always been in private hands.

One of the most recent owners was Barbara Walker, who inherited the town from her husband, Johnny. 

His parents bought the town in the early 1950s and it had been in the family ever since. 

For 20 years, Barbara Walker acted as the caretaker and unofficial mayor of Pray. 

She finally sold it in 2018 for $US480,000 ($735,000), according to Realtor.com. 

It was bought by a man who transformed the town into a thriving holiday accommodation business. 

The launch of the TV show Yellowstone brought a stream of new visitors to the town. 

In September last year, the owner put Pray on the market in order to move onto new ventures.

Now, the town has been bought by a local woman, eXp Realty’s Michael Rutkowski told Realtor.com.

“I think she’s going to preserve the town historically and reopen the store,” he said.

The new owner paid $US2.25 million ($3.44 million) for the five-acre village. 

There is scope to extend the town further, with an approved septic system in place for eight additional cabins. 

In the meantime, a log cabin in Pray can be rented on Airbnb for around $255 a night. 

The cabins have stunning views of snow-capped mountains, and are just a short drive away from natural hot springs.