BENTON - There are Beatles for sale in Benton.

Well, really, there is a house for sale in Benton that belonged to Beatle George Harrison's sister.

But it's more than just a house with a history. For the past nine years, it has been the Hard Day's Nite Bed and Breakfast and Beatles Mini-Museum - for some a stop-over and for others almost a pilgrimage destination.

Inside the house is a couch that George certainly and other Beatles possibly sat on while visiting Louise Harrison Caldwell. The owners of the house can point out the breakfast nook where George ate breakfast, the window he and a friend played guitars in front of, the turntable that spun the very first Beatles record ever played in the United States.

The owners, Jim and Daryl Chady and CJ and Dorothy Schultz, were there when the house was saved from the wrecking ball. They've been there for countless TV crews shooting Beatles specials. They've been there as Beatles fans born years after the British Invasion have had emotional melt-downs when confronted with what is left of the George Harrison aura in the house.

But they are tired, they say. It's time to let someone else take over the bed and breakfast, the Beatles mini-museum that has been part of the deal, and the whole Beatle-in-Southern-Illinois legacy.

The business has been up for auction on eBay since June 8 and will stay posted for one month. The owners can decide when the bids close if they are satisfied that the offer has met their minimum requirement, or if they want to continue posting the establishment.

Because a bed and breakfast business requires the owner or manager to live in the residence or in a contiguous property, the bed and breakfast owners are also selling the house next door. They said they would consider selling the two pieces of property separately, but they really hope the new owners, whoever they may be, will want to keep the Beatles-themed bed and breakfast operating.

The mini-museum, on display throughout the house, features period Beatles memorabilia and some artifacts and collectibles from Harrison's solo artist career. Many of the items are on loan. Several of those

who have loaned items to the museum have come to claim their collection during the transition to a new owner. Many have expressed interest in re-loaning the items to the new owners to keep the Beatles/George Harrison theme strong.

Many of the items are owned by the bed and breakfast owners, Schultz said. What will happen with the collection depends on whether the new owners want to stay with the current Beatles theme, he said.

CJ Schultz said one of his favorites is an old turn-table that used to be in a locally owned radio station. The owner of the radio station allowed his daughter, Marsha Schaffer, now Raubausch, to host a rock and roll radio show for an hour on Saturday mornings.

One Saturday in the summer of 1963, when George Harrison was visiting his sister, he walked into the radio station with two records, one of which was "Please Please Me" and asked Schaffer if she would be willing to play it. He signed one of the records, but Schaffer, who reportedly wasn't very impressed at the time, declined to have him sign them both.

Both the turn-table and the record are in the house.

Jim Chady pointed out a framed lithograph with a double CD mounted into the display. It is a commemoration of Harrison's solo-career flagship CD, "All Things Must Pass," which generated the song that virtually became his motif, "My Sweet Lord."

The framed award came from a man named Georg Hentschel in Germany, Schultz said. It seems Dorothy Schultz had written repeatedly to George Harrison, telling him about the bed and breakfast, and he had never replied. The framed award arrived quite unexpectedly with a note saying that Hentschel "had been directed" to send the award to the bed and breakfast. The day the award arrived was Dec. 1, 2001 - the day George Harrison died.

So far, bids are up to $50,000 for the two houses. That is not the minimum bid required for sale, Chady said. He said according to terms of eBay marketing, he could not reveal what the minimum bid for sale is.

"They told us to expect the bids to jump a lot higher when it gets closer to the end," he said.

There have been nearly 3,000 hits so far with 68 entities monitoring at all times. At least a two of the bidders appear to be investors who specialize in promoting exactly this type of real estate, Schultz said.

As far as a business venture, the owners said they have never had to advertise and they have always been busy. They have had visitors from all over the world, and the publicity is never-ending. In fact, they said, some of the monitors on eBay are probably international media.

"I would have to say that most of the inquiries (about the sale) are from people asking how to take care of a bed and breakfast and a mini-museum at the same time," Schultz said. "People aren't used to having the museum (even when they have an historical house)."

The answer is a combination of locks, trust and not accepting anything for the museum that is too priceless, Schultz said.

Chady said the house is eligible to be placed on the state register of historic places in 2013, which will be 50 years after George Harrison's summer visit. In order to remain eligible, Chady said the house is as original as possible, including the windows and the kitchen cabinets.

"We don't know yet what will happen," Schultz said. "We have to wait until July 8."

andrea.hahn@thesouthern.com

618-529-5454 x15076