GOLDFIELD – A prominent Esmeralda County husband and wife team is preparing to say goodbye to Goldfield and to building their dream in the historic community.
Malek and Jody Davarpanah, owners of the Elite Trading Post, have put their antiques and collectibles store and other nearby parcels up for sale as they make plans to leave Goldfield in the coming months.
Health reasons and lack of nearby medical facilities are cited for the planned move.
“We have to move to a lower elevation,” Malek Davarpanah said, adding that his health challenges are forcing the move. “That is the whole thing. Goldfield was our dream. We were doing all these things. But since I got so sick, I have heart disease, so we have to move to a lower elevation right away.”
The Davarpanahs have not decided where they are moving, but the southern Oregon coast is one option they are considering.
Among Goldfield’s most prominent supporters, the Davarpanahs are active in multiple efforts in the community. They include promoting Goldfield as a tourist destination and place to live, touting Goldfield businesses and history, being active in Goldfield Days and economic development efforts and preserving its rural lifestyle.
This past fall, Jody Davarpanah spearheaded a community initiative to promote physical fitness and well-being.
Malek Davarpanah said that this past fall, he had to be flown to Reno for medical care.
“Since then, it’s been worse and worse,” he said. “That is why we have to try and sell everything and move to a lower elevation.”
Goldfield has no hospital, and the nearest one in Tonopah closed in August 2015 when Nye Regional Medical Center shut down.
Jody Davarpanah said that when her husband needed to get to a hospital this fall, it took four ambulance rides to get him to Saint Marys Regional Medical Center in Reno.
“One was on a jet,” she said. “It’s just hard here because of the health care … and not having a doctor close. Right now, we are waiting for oxygen, and they’re like ‘We’ll be there in March.’ It’s like ‘Really? That’s not really good enough.’”
The Davarpanahs are currently promoting their properties for sale, including the Elite Trading Post, 430 W. Crook Ave.
“We have the property that the shop and the house sit, and we have about 11 more lots on the back of our shop, and then when we have one lot where there are water, power and sewer on the other side of town,” he said. “The rest of properties, we sold them.”
History comes alive
The Davarpanahs first bought property in Goldfield in 2010. They moved to town in 2012, he said, and in 2013 started a multi-year effort to develop the Elite Trading Post and its nearby property that’s full of historic charm.
“We worked a lot on this property,” Malek Davarpanah said. “This property had nothing.”
A brochure was put together to highlight the Davarpanahs’ Goldfield properties. Included, they said, are details such as location of the utilities and parking, photos and information on what the Davarpanahs had envisioned for the land as part of their dream and the possibilities.
He is hopeful someone will buy the land, including the Elite Trading Post.
“If someone can buy the whole thing, with a turn-key, they can finish our dream,” he said. “It was our dream to come here and die here, basically. This (health issue) was so unexpected. If I could stay out here, I would have stayed.”
Jody Davarpanah, Esmeralda County Schools special education director, said: “I am very sad because I have a good job here, one of the best jobs in the county. It was a dream to stay here and do our thing. We wanted to finish it up.”
“Hopefully, someone else will come along with a good vision and complete it,” she said. “We need people who are business people.”
Contact reporter David Jacobs at djacobs@tonopahtimes.com