Saji Daniel and his fiancée, Shannon McGauley, were holed up in their Cleveland-area home amid the pandemic in October 2020 when they got an unexpected call from their neighbor, Lou Keppler. Dr. Keppler was inviting them to visit Foxburg, a small town in Pennsylvania’s picturesque Allegheny River Valley owned by a longtime friend of his. To the couple, it sounded like a nice day of leaf-peeping and an escape from the city. But Dr. Keppler had a secret hope: That Mr. Daniel and Ms. McGauley might buy the town.

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