OT my homestead is gone

[Rodney Bullock]

Well folks the end of a era is at hand. The house that I grew up in is now a thing of the past. The place were the majic happened for more than 20 years is gone. I still have my garages there however my grand parents home has been torn down. It was falling in for the past 2 years and it was time. I had built so many cars there with my grand dad. Done some amazing things with nothing. I am so sad about it but that's life. I have not been there yet as the contractor told me it's done. I am almost afraid to go there.

[Merle Coggins]

Room for a bigger garage to park your toys now?

[pflaming]

I returned to my boyhood home in NE and it was gone. They said MANY old home sites were being bulldozed because the Meth Lab crazies come in and take control. If the owner shows up at an unoppurtoned time he may get shot. One day the place is innocent and empty the next day . .. dangerous. SAD:mad:

[JerseyHarold]

Are you planning to build another house on the site?

[40plyrod]

I feel you pain, we have the same thing to go through. The house my grandfather built has been empty for about 10 years and is starting to fall down and we are planning in the spring to remove it. We started this fall by removing the old woodshed and as much as I hated that woodshed when I was growing up I was sad to see it go. I'm not looking forward to taking the house down too many memories

[plymouthcranbrook]

The apartment building I lived in from age 4 to 9 was torn down about 2 years ago. Not sad, but feels funny as I have 55 year old pics of me and my family there.

[JIPJOBXX]

My brother and I still own the same home that I was born in and raised in. The house itself was built in 1895 in Menlo Park California by the county assessor who nick name was Honest John Mcbain! I love that handle that guy had. My dad bought it back in 1942 and it had rental units associated with it. Its probably paid itself back a thousand fold and today well lets just say the house across the street just was built at a cost of over two million dollars. That driveway that is where I learned how to drive my Model A Ford and I never went out into the street but could drive up and down driveway as much as I wanted to. Oh yes its on the City home tour and is restored inside. I forgot to mention that my dad bought his house for 5,000 dollars and had it paid oft in two years!

Edited December 21, 2011 by JIPJOBXX
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[Rodney Bullock]

Wow, that's some story. Our house does not have that kind of history. It started life as a three room house with a porch. I was told that my grand parents lived in DC on the Southwest side of town. They lived on the warf where the natonals stadium is now. They would go to there country house in the summer when children were about to be born they would come tto DC because Freedman's hospital was the only place they could go(Now Howard U.) Grandad told me that they heard the news about perl hourbor on the radio in the kitchen. As time went on he would build on to the house until they lived in it full time. I remember when it got indoor running water and in door bathroom. It was in 1968. I remember storms that I thought would destroy the house did not leave a scratch. I felt real safe there. All my old relatives that came and went in that house.My uncle John thomas and my Great grand mother that owned two model T's and could not drive.I remember building my Plymouth there in the garage by myself day after day.The house kept me company. I don't know if we will build another. I don't know what the future brings. 1940 was a long time ago.

[Don Coatney]

The house my uncle built and where I learned to drive. My Uncle bought a small saw mill to cut the lumber for this house from the trees on his property. All lumber in this house is full demension oak. Hard to imagine real two by fours in todays undersized lumber world. The oak lumber is so hard you must first drill a small hole before you pound a nail into it otherwise the nail will bend. Top picture was taken in the mid 50's when the house was 30 or so years old. Bottom photo was taken about 7-8 years ago. In the last two pictures the house can also be seen.

[yourpc48]

Soon a friend and I will be taking down a house that belonged to another friends parents. The one that lived there is in another state now but his mom came to visit here recently and was complaining that the neighbor would not let the fire dept do a burn to learn because they were afraid of getting ash on their house etc. so we volunteered to take it down manually. We will be trying to salvage a few things from the old girl as we deconstruct it. The idea of taking apart a high school friends house seems a little strange. Little do they know that we will be burning all that we can. Just in small piles rather than one big fire that helps the community.

[Chester Brzostowski]

On think is for sure, if you burn down a house around the DC area you are going to jail for arson.

Chet...

[Rodney Bullock]

Nice pic Don, I was asked if I wanted to burn the house down and I said no. It is messy and the smell. I went down yesterday to pay the guy and saw the area for the frist time. I left as soon as I could. Times are changing so fast. I will accept it.I am lucky to have so many pictures of the house and people in it. I almost feel like someone died. This song kept ringing in my head. My grand parents were country and western fans(go figure) as a kid I saw alot of Hee Haw, Johnny Cash specials. I remember vividly seeing and hearing " Ring of fire" when the spainish horns come in I thought that was the prettiest sound. Driving away yesterday I could hear those horns da da da dada and burns burns burns the ring of fire the ring of fire:cool:

[JIPJOBXX]

I will dig up an old photograph of my grandfather home up in norhtern New York. What I find interesting is to look at the picture and there are no Electrical lines or tv antena's what so ever.

[greg g]

Rodney, My brother and I still have part of my fathers property. When he passed away, we sold the house and it has since been sold again. The adjacent two lots were owned by my fathers Mom and dad. That house is long gone, Having been used as a practice site for the local volunteer fire dept. When they were done a guy came in with an excavator and knocked the rest into the basement. A couple loads of fill and some topsoil erased the footprint. There still remains a two story barn, and the foundation of a chicken coupe. We store stuff in the barn, and maintane the grass and the lot keeping it looking like its well tended.

We also keep insurance on the property to protect us from any folks who might get hurt trying to break into the barn. We have a pretty good relationship with folks who are living in Mom and Dads old house and the neighbor on the other side so we get notified if anything doesn't look right.

I would be concerned about the garages sitting there by themselves looking like an inviting target. So if they need fixing up get them done so they look well tended. Make sure you know the neighbors, and ask them to keep an eye out for any problems thay might notice. We are out in the country on a low traveled road so thee isn't a lot of folks who go by looking for trouble.

The other thing to do is build another house there and either rent it out or move in. We have thought of putting up a duplex where grandma's house was, so then we would have some rental property. The other option is to move in, and rent the place your are living in. Some of these new modular houses they have thse days are both well made and fairly inexpensive, and with the utilities, sewer lines are already on site, it makes it

easier to put something up.

I don't know what kind of area the house was in but like a lot of places in the country these days, empty home from forclosures, and older folks passing on, take a neighboor hood down in a hurry. Hat to see you lose your storage also.

I guess there is always chain likn with razor wire but that looks so tacky.

[Joe Flanagan]

Rodney, are you going to be able to keep your cars there still?

[Rodney Bullock]

Hey Joe, Yes the cars are welcome to stay now. We talked about adding another garage. Greg the garages sit down hill from the front so they are not easily seen from the road. The driveway that leads to the garages have a chain accross the road so no one can just drive in like they use to. There are alot of options on the table right now but with the airport right accross the road it's my guess if we just relax a while they will offer a price for the place that would make everbody real happy to relocate. With the house gone it's just not the place it was, all the elders gone the majic has left the property