Canada farm that gave birth to the McIntosh apple up for sale

The birthplace of the iconic McIntosh apple – an aging orchard in Ontario, Canada – is up for sale.

Pioneered by John McIntosh in 1811, the McIntosh Red would grow to become one of the most popular varietals and inspire Apple’s Macintosh computer.

According to a BBC story, McIntosh’s farm is being sold by its current owner Gerd Skof for C$875,000 ($675,000, £514,000).

The farm has been vacant for over a year and whoever buys the spot in Dundela near the New York border will need to love home repairs as much as history.

“Today, the McIntosh red apple trees go unpruned and unpicked, with hundreds of kilograms of fruit rotting on the ground. Some have disappeared in wild overgrowth, along with pear and plum and walnut counterparts, as the orchard slowly returns to bush,” wrote Stu Mills for the CBC.

Mr. Skof says he and his wife moved 16 months ago to be closer to a hospital in their old age. Before they bought the place in 1987, he says it changed hands several times. Over the years he put in extra bathrooms and amenities for farm laborers.

Mr. Skof thinks the farm’s role in agricultural history would make it an “ideal tourist attraction,” although that was never something he wanted to do.

To read more of the BBC story, visit here.