‘I Bought a Fixer-Upper in a Remote Desert Outpost To Build the Ultimate Stargazing Retreat’

With no stores, restaurants, gas stations, or even paved streets in sight, the "semi-ghost town" of Darwin, CA—home to fewer than 30 year-round residents—is not for everyone. But for retired civil engineer Michael Kantor, this scruffy old mining community holds one irresistible draw: the world-class stargazing provided by its pitch-black skies.

Kantor, 67, tells Realtor.com® that during the pandemic he discovered his passion for astronomy, but his hometown of La Habra Heights in suburban Los Angeles did not offer many opportunities to observe the stars, given the metro's extreme light pollution—among the worst in the country.

In 2020, a friend of Kantor's returned from a stay at an Airbnb rental in Darwin and showed him photos of this rugged community nestled in the high desert near the western edge of Death Valley National Park.

A short time later, Kantor and his wife, Leah, made their first four-hour drive to Darwin—and the desolate town's star-spangled, ink-black sky did not disappoint.

"You can see all the stars in the sky up there," says Kantor, admitting that his wife was less enthusiastic about traveling into the heart of the desert for the sake of his new hobby, but went along with it.

A rare desert listing

For the next four years, the couple made a biannual pilgrimage to Darwin. Then, in 2024, the owner of their regular rental died and her property hit the market—a rare opportunity in a town where real estate rarely changes hands.

A Realtor.com analysis of housing data reveals that over the last decade, only seven homes have been sold in Darwin, with a median sale price of $100,000. Currently, there are just two homes listed for sale in Darwin, although both are under contract.

Curtis Amundson, a real estate agent with Bishop Real Estate, had overseen the sale of more than half of the houses listed in Darwin since 2016, including Kantor's in 2024.

"I'm the only one crazy enough to sell houses in Darwin, but it's a cool town," Amundson tells Realtor.com.

The two-bedroom, one-bath wooden fixer-upper built in 1983 was purchased by Kantor in probate for $150,000, marking the beginning of a long, grueling renovation process that continues to this day.

Getting the house into a habitable state calls for a full rehab, but Kantor says it has been difficult and costly finding labor and getting building materials up to Darwin.

The closest hardware store and lumber yard are located in Lone Pine, CA, 40 miles away, and for more specialized projects, the nearest Home Depot is situated 100 miles away in Ridgecrest, CA, requiring a three-hour round trip.

Kantor has hired a pair of construction workers from L.A. whom he has been bringing up to Darwin for two weeks at a stretch to work on the house.

After completing remodeling of the exterior last year, Kantor and his crew are now refurbishing the interior. He says he expects his new "dark sky" retreat to be move-in ready within six months.

Kantor says he and his wife have agreed that initially, they will stay in Darwin every month for a week so he could observe the night sky during the new moon. But he anticipates spending increasingly more time in the desert in the future.

"We want to downsize and simplify in L.A., because we have a two-and-a-half-acre property and it's a lot of maintenance," says the retiree.

While the nearest hospital is in Lone Pine, the lack of immediate medical care has not deterred Kantor. He acknowledges the risk but remains optimistic.

"I think I have about, hopefully, 10 to 15 years before I really have to worry about health-related concerns," he says.

From boomtown to 'ghost town'

Named after Dr. E. Darwin French who explored the area in the 1860s, the town of Darwin was officially founded in 1874 as a mining community following the discovery of silver, lead and zinc, according to WesternMiningHistory.com. 

Like so many Western outposts of the era, Darwin exploded into a classic boomtown dotted with shops and hotels, and anchored by a trio of large mining operations. 

At its peak, the high desert community boasted a population exceeding 700 inhabitants, but it suffered a reversal of fortune when in 1937 a new highway bypassed the town, reducing traffic and contributing to its isolation. 

Even as mining activity puttered along through the mid 1950s, Darwin’s population gradually dwindled. 

Today, the remote locale is home to a little over two dozen mostly older inhabitants, many of them artists and musicians drawn to the profound solitude of the desert—a quality Kantor, one of Darwin's newest residents, shares.

"I'm an only child, so I always tell people, you could lock me up in a box and I'd be perfectly happy," he says. "I like the remoteness and the getting away from the rat race." 

As a recent profile of Darwin published in SFGate highlighted, the enclave's aging community is pulled between two competing impulses: a desire to protect their town from day-tripping gawkers and content-hungry Instagram influencers, and a desperate need for "new blood" to keep the municipality functioning.

Central to that goal is the local water system, which is managed entirely by a volunteer board.

Kantor says that once construction on his home is complete, he plans to become an active participant in the community by helping maintain those pipes and keep the water flowing.

In the high desert environment, water is the ultimate gatekeeper: With just 62 water permits available for purchase, the town's population is capped at a maximum of around a hundred residents.

"I think the biggest piece of advice to someone considering Darwin is ... we need people who are willing to get involved, participate in the community's needs," notes Kantor.

Selling real estate in Darwin

Amundson, Kantor's real estate agent, says most of the people who have purchased homes in Darwin and other small towns scattered across Inyo County tend to be artsy desert lovers who want to get away from the urban hubbub and live more sustainably.

Another common quality among the homebuyers is self-sufficiency, which is a necessity in a place like Darwin.

"You kind of have to be handy living out there, because it's not like there's tons of contractors and tons of people are going to come out and fix your things," says the agent.

According to Amundson, many of the clients he has worked with recently were from California's Bay Area, skewed younger, and planned to live in Darwin part time, taking advantage of the town's Starlink connection that has enabled telecommuting.

"You could work anywhere now, so I think that is a big draw for these smaller communities," says the agent. "People who work from home, they can get Starlink out there and work fully remotely, so I think that is going to help Darwin as people can make a good living [while] living where they want to live."

Contrary to popular belief, Amundson says that far from being put off by Darwin's lack of basic services and amenities, younger home shoppers embrace it.

"They kind of want something with a bit of a more challenge and something where they can become more part of a community," he says.

From a real estate agent's perspective, the biggest obstacles to home purchasing in a town like Darwin, according to Amundson, include the condition of the properties, which all require significant repairs, and a lack of financing.

"They're going to jump through a lot of hoops in order to live out here, so they've got to want it," he says of prospective buyers.

As for Darwin's long-time inhabitants, Amundson describes them as some of the most hospitable people he has ever encountered—provided that the newcomes are willing to pull their weight. The community has little patience for those who visit only two weekends a year without helping with the town's upkeep.

"I think if someone's willing to come out there and contribute and do some property improvements and be contributing to the community, I think they would be 100% welcoming to that," concludes the agent.