The longest build ever? House started in 1996 still not finished

When you’re building a house, it’s reasonable to expect some delays. But even by the most generous person’s standards, 25 years is possibly a touch too long.

Or is it?

It seems all is not lost for a house in Orcas Island, United States, that has been put up for sale with the hopes of finding a buyer who can finally finish the building job that was started way back in 1996.

Back then, the Spice Girls had just burst onto the music scene, fashion looked kind of the same as it looks now, sponge-painted walls were a thing, and tiled flooring created to look like terracotta was as fancy as all get out.

(Most) new builds have come a long way since then.

While the reasons for the hefty hiatus remain a mystery, the house is still standing – and on two hectares of treed land, no less.

It is literally mid-construction and, apart from the bathrooms featuring teeny ’90s shower recesses, the bones of it appear salvageable and not as dated as they possibly could have been.

There is a haphazard mix of brick and different timbers, but inside, the multilevel house has large windows, farmhouse-style raked ceilings and open-plan living areas.

The owner, who reportedly bought the property in 2019 off the original owner for $US204,000, is now asking $US499,000 ($674,000).

Orcas Island is the largest island of the San Juan archipelago off the north-west coast of Seattle, Washington.

Apart from being globally renowned for its whale-watching opportunities, Orcas Island was more recently in the headlines for its connection Oprah Winfrey – the talk show queen sold her 18-hectare waterfront estate there in an off-market deal, the highest sale on the island.