This was inspired by Kozmama's question about "conversation bulldozers"...
In our neighborhood, we have a conversation bulldozer. Nice, but watch out if you happen to ask "how's it going?" I know other neighbors who regret giving this person their phone number, because this individual is needyin many ways and verbally processes anything and everything--even in conversation with passersby. Sometimes even to the point of making others quite squeamish.
And guess what? So was the last homeowner there. Full on woo-woo bad mojo going on. That person would also trap me in conversations, walked into people's homes uninivited, and made it so I really couldn't work in the front yard if they were out. Always a hard luck tale, always a problem, and suggestions were 'no good'. Things finally came to a head when they hit bottom, and did get good help, which I am grateful for. When they did, this individual sold the house. During the open house, we walked through and were shocked. Doors were cut into rooms at angles so they hardly opened, the layout was terrible and the whole house had a feeling of being not-quite-thought-out.
At the time we commented "Wow. This explains everything. You'd have to be crazy to live here."
And just when I answered Kozmama's question, it all clicked into place.
So, tell me, do you believe a nondescript house--in a reasonably tidy, lower middle class neighborhood-- could attract a certain 'kind' of person on a consistent basis? Tell me your story... Just curious if this is the only house in the universe that's got crazy written somewhere under the floorboards.
DVMMOM: Wow! That's a story! I am hooting!
Wow, Riley... that is the saddest thing... I almost titled this post 'cursed houses?" and I think this fits the bill. Perhaps they'll demo it at some point and put up something useful or new. Pocket park?
i wonder if it's just a general lack of good old fashioned common sense....where "normal" people would pass up a house like that...it takes a certain breed, ya know? i think you have something there!
We joke that the house next door to us must be haunted or something. None of the other houses on our street have had more than 2 owners. And this one has had at least 9. And 2 deaths and 3 unexpected pregnancies. Each individual family does not seem crazy, but put all together it's odd to have so much more drama at that one house.
My house was built first on my street and I've lived in it for over 15 years, and this larger house was built second. The house itself is a little odd. Huge trees had to be cut down so it would fit on the lot, and it is angled so that it is facing the side of our house. It has a MIL suite, with a door from the bathroom to the patio so the grandmother could let her dog out. After the grandmother passed away and the son went off to college, family #1 moved out because the house was too large. Family #2 came from a larger city(Houston) and were paranoid. They never came outside or said hello to anyone. I couldn't even tell if they had kids. They would drive into the garage and close the door before getting out. They moved back after a short time. Family #3 was nice but uptight. They were happily surprised with a second child, and scheduled the birthdays to be the same(c-section). The mother would scold her kids if the sleeves of their coat turned inside out in the process of taking them off. They moved out to be in walking distance of the elementary school, ironically then started homeschooling. Family #3 was a couple who wanted kids but didn't think they could have them. Happily surprised with a child, they swapped houses with another couple they knew. Family #4 was a couple who wanted kids, but the woman was a breast cancer survivor. Her husband commuted from Austin to San Antonio every day. They finally moved closer to his job, and rented the house out. Family #5 was a single guy, who was commuting to the same job as #4. He would take side jobs which resulted in the garage floor being spray painted in bright red splotches. Landlord(guy #4) kept calling me because #5 was late paying rent. Family #6 was a couple with 2 dogs. They had to travel to Houston frequently for work, and eventually moved there. Family #7 was a couple with a boy the same age as my son. Too bad they didn't get to play together because our vacation schedule and theirs didn't overlap. They planned to stay awhile, and put in a lot of work to plant a vegetable garden, and then the dad's job got transferred back to where they were from. Family #8 was 2 kids, mom, grandma, and great-grandma. The large house was good for all of them together, but then they moved into separate houses. Then family #4 was going to move back in, but the woman's cancer came back and she passed away. Family #9 is a woman whose boyfriend left for Iraq, then she found out she was pregnant. Her mother left her husband and is living with her for a few months to help out. The baby is now 5 weeks old, and they are counting the days until the boyfriend gets back from Iraq.
Growing up there was one house in our neighborhood that always seemed to be for sale, no one ever seemed to stay long. When someone was living there, there was a consent change in cars in the driveway.
Truns out several of the owners in a row were low totem dealers. Seemed odd that that house attracted that kind of owner so many times.
Everyone (6 families) who bought a house by my friends had someone die in a car crash. That house has been sitting empty now for 14 years.
