Posted in Abandoned, Eminent domain, Photography, St. Louis, Suburban Decay, Suburbia, Urban Decay, tagged Abandoned, Bridgeton, Eminent domain, Lambert, Photography, St. Louis, Suburban Decay, Urban Decay on February 2, 2008|
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14832 Ralls was taken on Monday, Jan. 28. Yes, it was the crazy hold-out house with all the weird crap. I took some interior shots the day before it was destroyed. All the paint cans, propane tanks, etc. that filled whole rooms were gone. The house was just as odd on the inside as it was on the outside- you can clearly see how it was boarded up from the inside. The house was added on to and adjusted so much that the floorplan was nowhere close to any other in Carrollton. Even the bedrooms had some kind of kitchen-like cabinetry hung on the walls (there were cabinets everywhere). In addition to his fondness for paint, the owner must have been some kind of hoarder…. especially if he needed cabinets hung in every room.
Friday, Feb. 1st was the day 4250 Cameo was destroyed. This was another house where the owner was a
hold-out, but not in the same fight’em way as the Ralls type. This guy just simply stayed put. The airport expansion team had finally evicted him in November 07, close to a year after he received his check (typically, you’re given 3 months or more if you apply for an extension, and you’re given the date of when you will receive your check 3 months in advance). Many of his belongings remained outside the house for a week after his eviction. Rumor has it that after the guy got his check, he had his roof looked at to have a new roof replaced and did some other maintenance on the home as well. They say his car was still parked there even after they cut his electricity. He simply did not believe he would have to leave. The day I noticed his stuff in the yard, I also noticed arrows on the house highlighting some interesting landmarks. My guess is that he wanted to let the demolition crew know that there were some pretty important stuff around the house that needed to be preserved, should they otherwise overlook them. Items to avoid complete destruction included a rose bush on the side of the home and a wren house built above the garage. Their prudent locations were marked with silvery arrows in spray paint. 
Well, at least its February now so hopefully the wrens were gone. Not so much hope for the roses.
One last note- I was told that they haven’t received any demo permits recently, therefore things will be rather quite for a while again. The reason being many of the remaining houses (especially the ones on the south side) are tied up in court over asbestos removal issues. I guess that would explain why some houses are left vacant for years while others go down only a few months after they are abandoned. They have capped off the water and sewer lines for three houses in the past two weeks, but that is an unreliable indicator given its a different company handling it.
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12719 Grandin, was discovered in rubble on the evening of February 19, 2008. It was one of my absolute favorites.
J. Desy Schoenewies
56 Houses Left 