I wish him luck selling the house to someone who would want the layout. I've heard of these kinds of deals, layout comes with house, over the years and know of only once where the layout was NOT ripped up. It would be a shame; especially this layout which is brand "new" in GMR 2018. The reality of all model railroads is that one day there will be an "end." My own personal worst experience was disassembling a layout that was 36' by 13'. It was a work-in-progress of 4 years and had hundreds of hours of build time. It took one day, about 8 hours, and about 6 guys to take it down and carry it completely out of the basement. Sad.
Have you ever been on the "end" of a railroad you've poured countless hours into being removed? Not fun.
I can't even bring myself to think about the "end" of the Glacier Line. However, I am forever grateful to Rich Melvin and OGR for videotaping the layout. I will always have the Blueray/DVD.