John Colone Lists Hell Michigan Tourist Property for $625,000
John Colone has put his hell michigan tourist property on the market for $625,000, listing the 7-acre site that helped turn a roadside curiosity into a destination. The sale covers 3.5 developed acres and includes the souvenir shop, the ice cream parlor, the mini golf course and the wedding chapel Colone built himself.
The 80-year-old founder said he wants time to himself after opening what became the Gateway to Hell in 1998. “You know, I'm 80 years old, and I just wanted some John Time.”
Colone's 7-acre listing
The asking price puts a hard number on a place that Colone assembled over decades, starting after he traded in a car for a piece of the property. He designed and assembled the attraction himself, including the mini golf course and the chapel where visitors can get married. The shop also sells magnets, hoodies and license plates, and the ice cream stand inside it is called the Creamatory.
Colone said the sale carries emotion after years of work. “It's gonna be sad. To me it will be, not to anybody else.”
Hell's tourist draw since 1841
The town of Hell dates back to 1841, but Colone's version of the stop was built much later and turned into a visitor draw in Livingston County. The property's mix of retail, food, recreation and weddings is what made it more than a name on a map, and it is that assembled business that is now for sale rather than a bare parcel of land.
Matt Stiller, who traveled from Wyoming, Michigan, called the trip a bucket-list stop. “One of those bucket list items. I wanted to just drive out here and see what it was all about.”
Visitors still filling the lot
Kayla Tursell, who came from Howell, Michigan, said the attraction still reads like a full day out for families and sightseers. “It's so cute out here. So pretty. There's lots to do. There's the souvenir shop, the ice cream shop. It's a good time over here.”
For buyers, the listing is not just a land deal. It packages a working tourist business with a wedding venue, a novelty retail operation and a mini golf course that already has a name, a customer base and a location tied to one of Michigan's most recognizable place names.
