Can This Listing Be Saved?

What kind of house sits on the market for nearly six months in Marin, the pricy northern California county just north of the Golden Gate Bridge where the typical house sells in about half that time for 94.7 percent of its asking price?

A) A teardown whose previous owner was a smoker and had 27 cats.
B) A teardown whose previous owner was a smoker and had 27 cats who also were smokers.
C) A 4,200-square-foot, 5-bdrm house in Mill Valley that has a really nice kitchen.

We feel bad about what happened to "C," the sprawling gray frame house at 16 Bolsa that has been sitting on the market since last fall. With a gracious floorplan like that, the house deserves a better fate.

Of course, the house isn't actually the problem. The original listing price of $3,495,000 was. Call us stingy, but that seemed like kind of a big leap from the previous sale price in July, 2006 of $2,190,000. (Yes, we know about the very nice new retaining wall in the backyard, but still.)

But don't cry for 16 Bolsa yet. After a dramatic price cut to $2,995,000, the listing agent feels confident enough to expect offers on Monday. We'll keep you posted on this developing story.