It's been empty for quite a while but it looked to me like someone was in preperations to renovate it so I didn't pursue it.
About 2 months ago I found out that a bank had bought the property and the lot behind it. The other lot is on the main street that runs through town. They intend to build their new branch on the lots. It just so happens that the bank is the same one that I have my construction loan through. I called the branch vice president and talked to him to see if it would be possible for them to give me the house and I would move it to another lot(taking out another construction loan through them of course). He wasn't part of the land deal but he said that he didn't see why it couldn't be worked out.
Well, I searched for a suitable lot and found one 2 lots down on the other side of the street. It's a 2 acre lot that appeared to have a very large old house on it at one time. It didn't pan out though, the owners were hoping to sell the lot as a commercial lot.
A house this big would be very hard to move, there are a ton of low hanging trees and power lines all over the place. the house would have to be split into 4 pieces for it to work. This would be extremely expensive. The property 2 lots down would have been perfect, level grade, no trees or power lines in the way, it could have been moved as one piece...damn.
So I had to resign myself to the fact that another beautiful old house would be destroyed. I did however hope to be able to salvage a lot of things from the house including the very cool old windows. You may remember that my windows are the crappy metal frame ones from the 50's. Here's a shot of one of the front windows, it's almost 4' wide and over 7' tall.
The bank vice president said that it shouldn't be a problem for me to take what I wanted but he had to draw up a release form first. I got a call from him a day later that there might be a problem. The contractor that will be handling the demolition has already filed with the EPA in regards to asbestos. now it looks like I wont be able to take ANYTHING. I'm so pissed right now I cant even begin to explain how mad I am.
The contractor is saying that there is asbestos in the windows. At first I thought he was crazy. How could asbestos be in a window, it's friggin wood and glass?!?! After doing a little research I found out that some old types of window caulking have asbestos in it. BUT, from what I gather it was mainly used for commercial applications. Also asbestos caulking is nonfriable so even if it did contain asbestos it's extremely unlikely that it could harm anyone. I highly doubt there is any asbestos in the windows, I think the contractor is just saying that there is asbestos in everything in the house as a blanket statement to cover his ass. It really sucks that I'm probably going to have to sit there and watch them destroy this beautiful house and I wont be able to salvage one thing because everyone is so afraid of the EPA.
Here are a few more pictures of what will soon cease to exist:
Front
Side
Rear
Bathroom with a fireplace!
Stairs
Parlor looking into Dining Room
BedroomRIP Anderson House 1906-2007
8 comments:
That is so sad! They won't let anyone salvage anything from it? The bathtub, and fireplace, and windows are all going to the dump? Maybe you could call your historic society to step in and try to get as much stuff out of there as possible, in my town they'll take entire staircases out to be used in other renovations. You'd have to think that something could be done. :(
It it weren't for the red tape and bureauocracy we might actually get things done.
And forget recycling. We can't have any of that now, can we?
Too bad someone doesn't break in and just take what they want and salvage what they can without the okay of the EPA, OSHA, the CIA, the FBI, City Hall, the County, the City, et.al.
So, so tragic - what a lovely house. Sigh. Big, big kudos to you for trying so hard to save it though. :-)
I'll try not to get too worked up about this, but crap like this pisses me off.
There was an antebellum plantation house in Russellville that was torn down so they could put in a Dairy Queen. The owner, an asshole lawyer (his family was the original builder/owner), wouldn't let anyone salvage from the property. However, the demolition team let some people take a few things before they got to work. So, if you don't mind doing a quick smash and grab, get some.
If I've learned anything from this, it is better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.
Chelsea,
Unfortunately no. Because the house is being demolished for a business it falls under the EPA guidelines. If the house were being demolished privately or because it was condemned by the city/county then it wouldn't. Go figure. Also, the historical society here wont be able to help, it's actually only one person and she is way too overworked to be able to take on anything like this especially in the limited time frame.
John,
I'm hoping that the team will let me in to get whatever I can get but it's very doubtful. Because the demolition falls under EPA regulations everything has to be accounted for. I'm not sure how it works really. Do they deconstruct it piece by piece or do they simply knock it down? All the EPA mentions is that anything being renovated or demolished that falls under the guidelines must be sufficiently "wet", and that there must be no visible emissions from the contaminated area.
I do love that saying though, I should have never asked anything and just taken what I wanted long ago. I'm sure none of it would have been missed then.
I still haven't heard back from the bank on a definite answer yet.
Thanks to everyone else for the comments.
Wonder if he made his blanket statement on the asbestos just to ensure that he can do all the salvage work. Perhaps he doesn't want to share the fine treasures I see in the photos? Places around here salvage windows, trims, baseboards, floors, plumbing, old electrical wall plates, and so much more. Most of what you can imagine is salvaged. Not to sure there is great concern for asbestos.
My Dad was a huge fan of Bill Andersons.
It such a shame that they are going to tear this beautiful home down and an even greater shame that they will not let you sign a waiver letting them off the hook of any possible liability so that you can go in and take out some of the great architectural details and resue them. Why on earth would they rather demolish what could be saved and reused by someone who would appreciate it?? I hate the government.
This type of stuff just makes no sense to me at all. I think awareness needs to be made in communities that don't already have teams of people that go in and try to save the house or at least parts of the house. We have the "Preservation Station" in my town. It's wonderful. They have hundreds of doors of all sizes and styles, entire staircases, tin ceilings, light fixtures, flooring, sinks, almost everything imaginable. It all came from houses that were being demolitioned or donations, so the prices are really cheap and the profits go to the historical society for grants that go towards rehabing properties. It's such a good thing. *sigh*
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