FORT WAYNE, Ind (WANE) — For the right price, you could own a piece of Allen County history. The Covington Homestead sits on Covington Road in Aboite Township in southwest Fort Wayne. The nearly two-hundred-year-old house is up for auction and with it a mystery.

Laura Sowers is the current owner of the homestead. Her parents bought the home in the 1960s. The five-bedroom and four bathroom home is 4,880 square feet and sits on 4.82 acres of land. After the passing of her parents, Sowers decided to put the home up for auction hoping a new family would choose to restore the place and raise a family.

“It was a wonderful place to grow up,” current owner Laura Sowers said. “I played in the woods, and the barn, jumped out of the hayloft. It was just a great place to bike and skateboard.”

When Laura’s family purchased the home, a set of black and white pictures came with the deal. The photos of the homestead had been passed down by the owners of the home. The pictures show the home, however, no names or dates were listed on the back of the pictures. So could these be the original owners, the Covingtons? No one knows for sure.

The homestead, though not on the historical registry, is one of the oldest still standing in Allen County. Historical experts have told Sowers that part of the smaller portion of the house was built in the 1820s while the larger section was built in 1852. Several places, streets, and buildings in the area are named after Covington Homestead. However, not much is known about the original owners of the Covingtons’.

The Allen County History Center has a few newspaper articles from the 1950s on the house and then owners at the time, the Cronin family. Other than the articles nothing else is known about the family or the home.

According to one of the articles it states that the home was built thanks to a land grant from the government in 1824 and the materials for the home came from the land where it was built. Another clip mentions the home was built by a Reverend Covington but doesn’t list a church or other details about the family.

Who the Covington’s were is still a mystery. For Sowers, she hopes the auction will bring new life into her childhood home.

“I sincerely hope that someone buys the house that will enjoy it as much as we did,” Sowers said. “I hope they raise a family because it honestly was a wonderful place to grow up. I hope the next person enjoys it. That would make my heart happy.”

The auction is set to take place Wednesday, October 16th at 6 p.m. To schedule a tour or see more photos of the house, click here.