thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. ♪ [ gongs chiming ] >> it's a "strange inheritance" "gong show." >> and this is the set of gongs. >> the very set? [ gongs chiming ] >> a piece of history. >> you want to liken it to a stradivarius except there's only one set of true puccini gongs. >> a musical mystery. >> how the heck did they end up in a warehouse in queens? [ drumroll plays ] >> but drumroll, please. [ castanets clicking musically ] can she strike a deal to fund her husband's dying wish? >> are you hoping that someone will see them and say, "here's a check"? >> you better believe it. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] ♪

>> i'm jamie colby, heading into the town of hastings-on-hudson, new york, a suburb about 18 miles north of manhattan. i'm on my way to meet a woman who wrote to me about her strange inheritance -- a piece of musical history with the most improbable tale of how she came to own it. >> my name's marlene piturro. when my husband died, he left me a musical treasure along with clear marching orders on what he wanted done with it. [ gongs chiming ] >> hi, marlene. >> hi, jamie. come on in. it's so nice to meet you. >> as we settle in, marlene tells me about her harmonious first meeting with her husband, howard, a concert percussionist. >> it was love at first sight. >> really? >> he was 6'3", and he had these twinkly blue eyes. he went to work every day in his gig suit and his tuxedo with his white shirt and bow tie. >> howard van hyning, born in 1936 in central florida,

inherits an interest in percussion from his great-grandfather, a drummer boy in the civil war. >> howard had his drumsticks, and he practiced quite a bit, mostly with his drum pad in his bedroom, thank goodness. >> howard joins the drumline in high school, and at just 15 lands a spot in the orlando symphony orchestra. >> he was the youngest percussionist that they had, and he did very well. >> so well that after high school, howard heads to the renowned juilliard school of music in new york city. there he adds to his skill set by mastering a variety of drums and buying them up whenever he can. >> not just drums, but anything that you hit -- xylophones, bells -- anything that was a percussion-type instrument. >> most percussionists are, to some extent, collectors. >> greg zuber, lead percussionist with new york's metropolitan opera. >> percussionists end up

in charge of all kinds of instruments -- snare drums, cymbals, timpani. >> it happens that percussion is my favorite part of any orchestra. >> well, you're a woman of refinement and taste. >> i would like to learn something percussion-y. >> absolutely. let's go do it. >> we start with the tambourines. >> it's simple to play. you just tap it... [ tambourine jingling ] ...like that. >> no, greg. sorry to disappoint you, but i've seen these played. >> yeah? [ tambourine jingling ] >> well, that's more like the gospel church, but maybe we should switch to castanets. >> okay, ready? and... [ castanets clicking musically ] >> that's a good start. >> now it's time for the bass drum. >> so think about using your whole arm. [ bass drum resonates ] >> great. >> i love the sound of this. >> are you busy tuesday? i might be needing a player. >> you get to do this for a living? >> i get to do this. i get to play with these toys. >> and so does howard. he graduates from juilliard in 1966 and begins to perform

with the new york city opera. it's not a little deal to be part of the new york city opera. >> absolutely not. >> in 1975, howard takes on a prestigious summer gig in central park. on the calendar, "turandot," an opera written in 1924 by giacomo puccini. ♪ now, even if you're no opera buff, you probably heard the most famous part of "turandot," says fred plotkin, author of "opera 101." ♪ people recognize that it's been in an number of films. >> it was in "mission impossible," starring tom cruise. >> oh, and "the sum of all fears" and "the mirror has two faces," among others. >> so we know it very well. >> it's a percussionist dream. there are tam-tams, tubular bells, glockenspiel, and, most crucially, several different-sized gongs. [ gong chimes ] >> it's set in ancient mythical

china, and puccini wanted to convey mystery. >> i won't get into the plot right now, but those gongs are really important to the story. so when puccini's writing the opera, he looks all over italy for just the right gongs. no luck. then he does what any perfectionist would. >> puccini had gongs manufactured specifically for "turandot" so that he could have those ethereal chinese sounds that he heard in his head, but had not necessarily seen an instrument to produce. >> a half-century later and half a world away, howard van hyning harbors the same perfectionist streak. preparing for his big moment in central park, he searches for a set of gongs worthy of puccini's masterpiece. turns out howard doesn't have to look far -- just across the east river from manhattan to the humble

outer borough made famous by the new york mets, archie bunker, and kevin james. how they heck did they end up in a warehouse in queens? >> everything ends up in a warehouse in queens. >> but first our "strange inheritance" quiz question... the answer after the break. introducing stocks by the slice from fidelity. now you can trade stocks and etfs for any amount you choose instead of buying by the share. all with no commissions. stocks by the slice from fidelity. get your slice today.

>> so, which of these three bands had the most drummers? well, nirvana had six drummers through the years. that beats pearl jam's five. but if you count the fictional heavy-metal group spinal tap, it had as many as a dozen, some of whom died of spontaneous human combustion. >> [ singing operatically ] >> you don't need to know a lot about opera to appreciate the strangeness of the inheritance marlene piturro gets from her husband, howard van hyning. but a little bit of knowledge can't hurt. so let's go back to lucca, italy, 1924. maestro giacomo puccini is composing the second act of his masterpiece "turandot." >> turandot is a princess. she's beautiful, of course. she does not want to marry anyone because her ancient relative had bad luck with men.

so she tells three riddles, and if you can answer the riddles, then you get to marry turandot. if you don't answer the riddles, you lose your head. >> off with you. >> yeah. it's a brutal story. [ gong chimes ] >> when each suitor arrives at the palace, he bangs a bronze gong. but puccini can't find gongs that make the sounds he wants, so he commissions a family of cymbal makers in italy to handcraft them. >> the great composers like puccini often had instruments manufactured to produce sounds that did not exist before. >> his precise gongs are completed, but puccini dies in 1924 before finishing his masterpiece. how many famous operas are there that are unfinished? >> very few, and the most famous of all is "turandot" by puccini. >> a ringer named franco alfano

finishes "turandot" based on puccini's notes, and it becomes one of the most performed operas from sydney to cincinnati, where, fatefully, in 1955... [ gong chimes ] ...a production is being directed by new yorker anthony stivanello, whose nickname is "instant opera." >> he had the nickname "instant opera" 'cause he could produce an opera literally in an instant. >> he may be quick, but he ain't sloppy, and there's something about his cincinnati "turandot" that's just not right. guess. >> he was unhappy with the sound of the gongs. >> the gongs. the clanging in anthony's ears never stops, and years later on a trip to italy, he looks for something better. instant opera hits the instant lottery at the office of puccini's publisher. >> my father found that the publisher ricordi had the actual gongs they had specially made that puccini wanted in the production.

>> it's a startling find. >> you want to liken it to playing a stradivarius except there's only one set of true puccini gongs. so my father, being a colorful figure, started playing cards with ricordi, and he talked him into having a bet, and he won the gongs. >> and takes them home to queens. now we can return to the summer of 1975, when howard van hyning gets hired for a "turandot" production in central park. howard already has a collection of more than 1,000 percussion instruments, but no gongs that are right for "turandot." then he gets a tip that puccini's own custom-made gongs are in the stivanello shop in queens and may be available to rent. >> howard said, "i've got to see them. i've got to see them." >> anthony leads him into the back of his shop, pries open a dusty crate, and reveals 13 heavy bronze gongs, one note of the musical

scale on each gong in italian. for howard, got to see turns to got to have in a new york minute. no doubt in your mind they're the real deal? >> there's no doubt of anybody who really knows about opera that they are the original set of puccini's gongs. >> howard almost can't bring himself to return the puccini gongs after the central park rental. >> he just kept asking my father, "hey, if you ever sell them, do you promise to sell them to me?" >> his desire doesn't wane even after he claims his own princess in 1982 from the city opera audience. >> i came back from the intermission, and my friend said, "these two guys have asked us out for a drink after the show." howard and i locked eyes, and he said, "i'll take the little one." >> howard and "the little one" soon marry and have two children. all the while, howard adds to his stockpile of percussion instruments. >> he started with one room.

it grew to six rooms, and he had a whole room of just timpani shells, huge kettle drums, and the mallet instruments were everywhere. >> then one day howard walks in the door of their home in suburban new york with a big announcement. >> he came home with a burlap bag, and he said, "look what i have," and he dumped out a few of the gongs. >> how much did he pay for them? >> $8,000. >> and do you say, "holy glockenspiel. the kids need to go to college"? >> i was speechless. >> luckily for howard, his opera-loving wife learns to appreciate the gongs as much as he does. >> and they're very special, and i'll show you why. i'm going to play first a regular gong, which sounds pretty good, and this is onstage all the time. [ gong chiming ] sounds pretty good. >> yeah, pretty good to me. >> but here is the puccini gongs. [ low-pitch chime resonating ] >> [ gasps ] >> it's extremely resonant. and that's the sound that he wanted. would you like to try one?

>> i'll give it a whirl. [ high-pitch chime resonating ] >> perfect. >> howard plays the puccini gongs in operas all over the country, showing them off for music experts everywhere. in 1991, he even has one of the gongs signed by legendary opera singer luciano pavarotti. i see his signature. >> yep, there it is. >> howard continues to play with the new york city opera into his 60s. then in 2001, he notices a change. >> he said, "my hands are not right. my playing is not right." >> an mri confirms that howard's in the early stages of parkinson's disease, a disorder of the nervous system that often causes tremors. for a musician, that is devastating. >> it was devastating for him. >> howard fights the disease and keeps playing until 2009. the following year, he dies of cardiac arrest. he's 74 years old.

>> he's buried with his sticks. >> really? ♪ >> i knew that when he got to heaven, he'd be able to play. >> but before howard departs, he leaves marlene not only a piece of musical history... >> [ sighs ] we talked before he died. he would like two things to happen. >> he asks her to set history straight. it's a big responsibility. >> it's a big responsibility. >> here's another quiz question... the answer when we return. we made usaa insurance for veterans like liz and mike. an army family who is always at the ready. so when they got a little surprise...

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musical was adapted from puccini's opera "la bohème"? it's "rent," a tale about a group of bohemians living in the east village of new york city. ♪ >> something about puccini's opera "turandot" always irked renowned percussionist howard van hyning. remember, puccini dies in 1924 before finishing his masterpiece, and another composer, franco alfano, is hired to complete it. does alfano get it right? >> there's no way of knowing. >> for howard, it was all about the gongs puccini obsessed over. they're prominent throughout his opera, but alfano's ending hardly features them at all. >> it's a jarring transition from when puccini wrote his last note. >> howard, whose most prized possession was puccini's custom-made gongs, had one dying wish for his wife, marlene -- fix "turandot" by selling

the gongs for enough money to commission a new ending for the opera. ♪ tall order. howard bought the gongs in 1983 for $8,000, and marlene had them appraised in 2010 for, she says, 100 grand -- still not enough to get a first-rate composer to write a new "turandot" ending. what's your price? >> i think that they're worth between $1 million and $2 million. nothing like this has ever been sold. [ gong chimes resonating ] >> think they're worth $1 million? >> [ chuckles ] well, you can hope. i'm not sure about that. >> greg zuber, the met's current lead percussionist, who we met earlier, chimes in. it sounds to me like puccini had to have these gongs. >> he absolutely needed them for the right flavor of the opera to suggest china in its ancient setting. [ gong chimes resonating ]

>> just like that. >> just like that. >> spectacular. marlene thinks they're spectacular, too, and wants them heard and appreciated. while waiting for a buyer to step up, she rents them to opera houses where they're a big draw. >> howard would want them to be played, and i did rent them out. >> until 2011 when she gets a frantic call about her strange inheritance. what happened? what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com.

i want some more what's he doin? but, he can't

look at him! it's just not done! please sir. i want some more more? more? more? more? please sir he has asked for... thank you what? well he did say please sir yes he did and, thank you yeah. and thank you he's a wonderful boy (laugh) a delightful boy (all boys): thank you, thank you, thank you. ♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> it's 2011, and marlene piturro is terrified about her strange inheritance -- a rare set of percussion gongs

that trace back to renowned opera composer giacomo puccini. what happened? >> we were renting them, and they were lost in transit. >> oh, my. >> the national carrier who was doing this couldn't find them. >> for three awful days no word. then she gets a call. >> it turned out that they were in newark for three days, and when we finally knew where they were, they went on to their ultimate destination. >> phew! >> [ chuckles ] >> the mishap forces marlene to change her tune and stop renting out the gongs. >> howard was more than willing to send them. he loved that they could go to different opera houses, but i feel i can't take that risk. >> so marlene tucks them away, unseen, unheard, and with each passing year, increasingly forgotten by the opera world. she's still hoping to find a way to do as howard wanted -- sell them to a musician or opera company and commission

a new ending to puccini's "turandot" that features the gongs. it's a big responsibility. >> it's a big responsibility, and i'm not the best person to have them. they belong in an opera house. >> then in 2016, music director antony walker of the pittsburgh opera hears tale of how howard van hyning's widow has puccini's gongs hidden away in a trunk. >> we were very excited to hear that the puccini gongs were still around. >> he implores marlene to lend him the famous gongs for his upcoming production of "turandot." marlene relents, but this time, she has the gongs hand-delivered. ♪ we're there for the first official rehearsal. everyone is amped up over those gongs. >> it makes it much realer. you can smell and taste and feel this thing. it's not some ancient artifact in mothballs.

it resonates, and it gets people very excited. ♪ [ gong chimes resonating ] >> this set is so important because we have the sounds that puccini had in mind, which is really amazing. [ gong chimes resonating ] >> it's like a stradivarius. if you don't play it, what's the point? puccini heard in these gongs how his music should sound. >> [ singing operatically ] [ gong chime resonates ] >> marlene still intends to turn her strange inheritance into a new ending that makes "turandot" even more of a percussionist dream, just as her husband envisioned. are you hoping that by sharing

your strange inheritance that someone will see them, come along, and say, "here's a check"? >> you better believe it. [ chuckles ] that would be a wonderful outcome. >> whatever happens, this performance would surely be music to her late husband's ears. >> he had his destiny, and that was to play this music. he loved music, and he loved the gongs. ♪ >> a half dozen other composers have written new endings to "turandot," and now one more has tossed his hat in the ring. in march 2017, four days after his 100th birthday, maestro anton coppola, uncle of film director francis ford coppola, conducted a two-hour concert in tampa, florida, which included his own alternate ending for "turandot," gongs and all. the contest for the perfect ending continues. i'm jamie colby.

thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. [ gong chimes resonating ] ♪ >> talk about getting the keys to the city. they walk around like they own the place. >> sounds like you're the unofficial mayor of this town. >> well, that's one of my hats. >> guess what? they do. >> your dad bought the whole neighborhood? >> yes. the whole town. >> it is a real community. very close-knit. >> i was told i was born here, but i was too young to remember. >> they never thought they'd live to see this day. >> makes me sad. i don't want to have to move. >> when is the last time you got a listing for a whole town? >> never. >> will the heirs take the cash and let the bulldozers in? >> if you did sell, where would those people go? [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] ♪ >> i'm jamie colby in western pennsylvania, turning into the village of reduction. i'm here because a viewer wrote me to say this whole place is his strange inheritance. >> my name is david stawovy. when my parents passed away, my siblings and i inherited a town. >> hi, david. i'm jamie colby. >> hello, jamie. welcome to the town of reduction. >> you wrote me you inherited a town? this is it? >> this is part of it. >> david and his three siblings' inheritance encompasses 75 acres of hills, farmland, and forest nestled along the youghiogheny river. the town, population 60, stretches out along reduction road, which leads into reduction circle, and an area called "the village," a collection of 19 houses. >> and the house right in front

of me is the house that my father decided to purchase, and that's where i lived when i was one year old. he wanted only one, but the people that was selling it asked him if he wanted to buy them all. so he ended up buying them all. >> your dad bought the whole neighborhood? >> yes, the whole town in 1948. >> but david's ahead of our story. it starts some 40 years before his dad became king of this hill. at the turn of the century, the town is owned by the american reduction company, which runs a bustling plant that recycles and reduces garbage shipped in from nearby pittsburgh. >> and the factory was directly behind you, down over the hill. they only had to walk down a set of steps, and they were at work. >> reduction was what was known as a company town, one of more than 2,000 communities wholly owned by one corporation or another that pop up across america in the late 1800s.

>> ♪ you load sixteen tons ♪ what do you get? ♪ another day older and deeper in debt ♪ >> a number-one hit, "sixteen tons" by tennessee ernie ford makes company towns sound like woeful places to live. >> ♪ i owe my soul to the company store ♪ ♪ >> but that song topped the charts in 1955, long after almost all the company towns closed, and their story is more nuance than old tennessee ernie is letting on. history professor ed meena. who did it benefit more -- the company or the employees? >> the company had a steady force of workers at their disposal, but it gave the workers an opportunity to find their own life and their own future. >> company towns make it possible for workers to take the jobs in the new post-civil war industries located near natural resources

like coal, lumber, iron, and oil. >> it was you came on the railroad, dropped off, went to work. >> were the people that lived in these company towns proud to work for the company, or is it a little indentured servitude? >> a little bit of both. the company was run for profit, and the workers, in many instances, were very expendable, but some of the company towns were a little bit better, and workers were given the opportunity to have some leisure time. there were activities, religious instruction, athletics. >> reduction, p.a., comes to life in 1910 with the opening of the american reduction plant. it's known as "the town that garbage built." >> all the garbage from pittsburgh, and they brought it out, and they ran it through a processing plant, and they separated the copper, aluminum, or whatever metals. they made soap.

they made fertilizer. >> and how many workers did reduction need that it made sense for them to build a company town? >> well, i think at their heyday, they had 400 people living in reduction. they had three shifts. it worked 24/7. >> in 1920, david's grandparents, polish immigrants valentine and johanna stawovy, settle near reduction and start a dairy farm to supply milk, eggs, cheese, and produce to reduction. they become its company store. is that the farm? >> yes, this is a shot of my grandfather and my grandmother and all the siblings. >> how big was this farm? >> he bought like 100 acres, and then he bought another 100 acres. he bought up a lot of different farms. >> that's a substantial dairy farm. >> well, he had four sons, and his daughter worked there, and so he had his own workforce. >> one member of that workforce, david's father, john stawovy. born in 1922, he grows up milking cows, working the fields, and attending school

with the rest of the reduction kids at this one-room schoolhouse. by then, american workers are starting to enjoy the economic advances that will bring the era of company towns to a close -- rising worker incomes, mass-produced cars, widely available home financing. they get a taste of a better life. >> oh, absolutely. workers have a higher standard of living because of their union contracts. they actually get paid time off. they get a little bit of a pension. >> in 1936, a larger garbage plant opens in pittsburgh. american reduction closes the plant here, and reduction becomes a ghost town. when reduction closed, what happened to the people living in those houses? >> people were devastated. that was their livelihood. >> the stawovy family dairy, nevertheless, thrives. in 1948, david's father

is newly married and looking for a starter home. he approaches the american reduction company to purchase one of the houses in the old neighborhood. >> he said, "what's the price?," and he gave him the price, and then he said to my father, "instead of buying one, why don't you buy them all?" >> how much? >> $10,000. >> did he have the money? >> no. he borrowed it. >> he saw it as an investment? >> oh, yes. >> david's parents rent out the 18 vacant homes and move into this 600-square-foot house just like the others. here they start a family. david is born in 1949, followed by sisters jacque, cheryl, and brother jan. >> it was very close-knit, and, as i recall, it was very happy. >> jacque recalls a childhood spent playing with the other kids in the village. >> we loved to ice-skate on the pond that was right next to the dairy. before we went ice-skating, we would go into the dairy and get hot chocolate.

>> time stands still in good ways and, well, not so good ways. >> all the houses had outhouses. they didn't have indoor plumbing. once a year, they had to be cleaned, and my father would have me going out with him and hold the flashlight when he would do his duty. >> we would do whatever he asked us to do. whether it be painting, scrubbing, we all had a hand in it. >> the kids grow up, move away, and begin their own careers. for the next six decades, with support from their mother, dad runs the old company town from top to bottom. >> my dad did it for years all by himself, and he was incredible. >> but when the landlord, town engineer, and public works chief needs to retire from office, his son david is about to find out that being lord of the manor isn't all it's cracked up to be. >> you get a call 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning. it's my responsibility. >> here's a "strange inheritance"

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geico. hey, this is kevin love from the at times, life can feel scary. which can leave us hurting. and feeling overwhelmed with anxiety. now, more than ever, we need to be kind to ourselves.

kind to our mental health. and find some time and space. in these tough times. mindfulness is something that's helped me. and i hope it can help you too. my nonprofit is partnering with headspace. to offer you free content, that can ease those feelings of anxiety. it's as easy to do as this. take a big, deep breath. in through the nose. out through the mouth. in.. ..and out. just breathing. in.. ..and out. head to kevinlovefund.org/headspace and be kind to your mind. ♪ >> so, a strike begun at what company town led to the creation of labor day? it's "b."

in 1894, after their wages were cut in half, workers at the pullman railcar company in illinois walked out, leading to a nationwide strike. in response, president grover cleveland approved the federal holiday of labor day. ♪ >> hard to believe this beautiful western pennsylvania hamlet is known as "the town that garbage built," but it's true. the village of reduction dates back to 1910, a company town of the american reduction plant, trash processor for nearby pittsburgh. the plant closes in the '30s, but local dairy farmer john stawovy buys the whole spread in 1948 and runs the town, home to about 60 people. >> i was told i was born here, but i was too young to remember. >> walter willie klorczyk grew up in reduction in the 1950s. what was it like living here? >> well, it was country.

you're exposed to all kinds of animals and bugs and stuff, and you get used to living in the country. >> were the neighbors close? >> very close. i mean, close enough where you couldn't do anything wrong without coming home and finding out that everybody knew about it. >> for willie, reduction will always hold a little piece of childhood magic. >> there was never a streetlight here, and i remember one time we laid down and looked up at the sky, and realized there's more than just a few stars up there. >> for the next 60 years into the early 2000's, john stawovy and his wife, amelia, not only run the town, but maintain its characteristic charm. >> when the people would come to pay the rent, it was like a friend arrived. sometimes my mother would invite them in to have tea or coffee or feed them. they were all very kind to my parents. >> but when their father enters his 80s and begins to suffer from dementia, david, now

a retired schoolteacher, finds himself more involved with all the day-to-day duties. was there some point when your dad got ill and you realized you'd have to take over all of the responsibility? >> i was there with my father, helped him throughout all the years, and now, for the last five years, i had to really take care of him. >> in 2014, david's father dies of heart failure. two years later, his mom passes away. david's named executor of the estate. >> my father chose me. it's an honor that my dad thought that much of me for me to be responsible enough to take care of his family. what's in his will i will do. whether i agree with it or not, i will do what my father asked, and that's -- i feel it's an honor. >> for david, it's also an honor to keep the town running just as his parents did for more than 60 years. sounds like you're

the unofficial mayor of this town. >> well, that's one of my hats -- one of them. >> what other things do you have to do? >> sewage officer, plumber, electrician -- you know, i do it all, whatever needs done. >> do you have the expertise to do all that? >> i do probably 98% of the work myself, and my family helps, also. one of the worst things we had recently, one of the main waterlines broke in the middle of the road. >> david's not the only family member on the clock. >> since i retired, it's kind of my job now. my husband and i do the bookwork, and we make all the deposits. i do all of the leases. >> for their work, the siblings earn hourly wages. then at the end of the year, each typically receives an additional $15,000, profit from the rental income. don't you think you should be making more money for all this? >> $15,000 is not a lot of money, but it's something. i'm happy with that. >> david and his siblings are happy about something

else, too -- the community that they've helped to perpetuate. tight-knit? >> oh, yeah. >> what kind of things do they do for each other? >> well, like sometimes when they have to leave, they'll watch their children or they'll say, "pick up my child when they get off the bus till i get off work." >> kate and larry blasko have lived in reduction for two years. you came and looked at it... >> came and looked at it, and we said, "we want to rent it." >> and why not? these homes are perfect for a couple of empty-nesters. ♪ look at this kitchen, okay? i could totally make magic here. you got the sink, you got a beautiful stove, you have this huge refrigerator -- it all fits -- and if you want to have breakfast in the house? right here. you got a whole seating arrangement, storage. isn't it darling? it's such a cute house. you guys like living here? >> we love it. >> love it. >> what's the best part? >> just being alone and the wildlife and quiet. >> quiet. >> what are you missing?

>> nothing. >> traffic. >> yeah. >> missing traffic. >> it's a pretty friendly and quiet little town, but maybe not for much longer. when is the last time you got a listing for a whole town? >> never. >> what's david asking? >> here's another quiz question for you... the answer when we return. so you're a small business,

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>> so, what old company town has been transformed into a five-star resort? it's kohler, wisconsin. founded in 1900 on the grounds of the kohler plumbing fixture

plant, the town now boasts a hotel, water spa, and championship golf course. ♪ >> after inheriting the old company town of reduction, pennsylvania, from their parents in 2016, retired schoolteacher david stawovy and his siblings have been busy keeping the town up and running. but heavy are the heads that share the town. so as they reach retirement age, they decide to put the entire village up for sale. what was it that finally made you say, "out"? >> my wife and i want to travel. my sisters want to travel. you're tied down. you're never at peace. >> when is the last time you got a listing for a whole town? >> never. [ both laugh ] >> debbie dattalo is the listing agent. what's david asking? >> 1.5. >> 1.5...? >> million. >> is that a good price?

>> i believe it's a fair price, and everything's negotiable. >> how would you describe this property? >> it's unbelievable land, and the history of it, i think, is even more amazing. >> what do properties around here sell for? >> the market is growing, so my expectations are only going up because of the growth that will be happening in the next couple of years here. >> if the heirs get their asking price, split four ways, they'd each receive 375k. where's the value -- where we're standing right now, in these houses, in the river, the neighborhood? >> i believe it's the land. this is very difficult to find this amount of land in a parcel like this. >> other than what it is right now, what could this property become? >> i think it could be a housing development. i still have in my mind that it could be a recreational space. >> news travels fast in a small town, so it's no secret

to the residents that their time in reduction, p.a., could be dwindling away. >> makes me sad. >> i don't want to have to move. >> it's a decision the residents may be forced to make sooner than they'd like. >> i did have an offer already. >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. this is decision tech. find a stock based on your interests or what's trending. get real-time insights in your customized view of the market. it's smarter trading technology for smarter trading decisions. fidelity. i'm making pizza on king's hawaiian mini subs. yum! king's hawaiian.

♪ >> now back to "strange inheritance." ♪ >> david stawovy and his three siblings have just put up for sale the tiny former company town, reduction, p.a., that their family has owned and run for 70 years. while they're excited about the prospect of selling, they're uncomfortable with the thought of uprooting the town's 60 residents. >> why do you care so much? >> i just like people, that's all. i try to give them a good -- you know, it's a reasonable

place to live. i try to give that to them. >> if you did sell, where would those people go? >> well, i promised them if i sold that i would give them one year to find a place to live. >> not everybody's going to agree. they may want to take possession and tear them down immediately. >> i know, but i told them. i made a promise. i'm a man of my word. >> i don't want to have to move. >> you know that he is looking for a buyer, but only a buyer that would be willing to let people stay here for a period of time? >> yes. >> that seems pretty unusual in america. >> well, it is. >> everybody's after that buck. you're right. i give him a lot of respect for that. >> we're hoping that someone will come along and run it just the way we did and maybe even make it better. >> just a month after putting the town on the market in october 2016, david gets a call from a prospective buyer. what would they do with the property? >> there's a big mound that's a high point where you could see for miles. he wanted to build a mansion up on top of it. >> ooh. the offer comes in at $800,000,

well below the $1.5 million asking price. but the real deal-breaker for the family is that reduction would be reduced to nothing. what's it like to have a client who's a little bit hesitant to sell? >> i think my business is about emotions, and sometimes people are emotionally tied to their real estate, and i understand that. this property is still important to them, and i think that will be important when we find the right buyer to know the love that went into the houses and also the people that lived here. >> walking around reduction, i realize that while houses, roads, street signs, and water mains can put a town on the map, it's people that make it a community, like larry, kate, and willie, and all the others who've lived in these brick houses and populated the old company town with plain old good company. it's no wonder that even

with big money on the table, david and his siblings say they're determined not to let the people of reduction down. where are you going to find somebody that will buy this property and treat these people with the respect that you have? >> i hope there's somebody out there. >> what's the upside for them? >> to want to take care of people and for the love of man. ♪ >> remember how the stawovy family dairy provided the residents and workers of reduction with food and supplies? well, it turns out there was one popular farm product old grandpa valentine sold on the side -- moonshine. david tells me his gramps ran a secret still right on the farm -- even did a little time behind bars when he was caught. of course, after a long day in the garbage factory, i can understand the workers in the old company town wanting a little cocktail.

i'm jamie colby. thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. maria: good morning, everyone. happy tuesday and welcome back. i'm maria bartiromo. it is tuesday, september 8th. your top stories, 6:00 a.m. on the east coast. the battle for the swing states heating up. over the weekend, president trump touting a rebounding economy and getting tough on crime. president trump threatening to cut economic ties with china and also issuing a stern warning if joe biden wins. congress is returning today, desperate americans are hoping the stimulus stalemate quickly comes to an end. markets this morning picking up where they left off last week. take a look, in the red, with technology heavy nasdaq taking another hit this morning.