This is so awful.
This story is so awful. I can't even imagine. I'm speechless.
80-Year-Old Farmhouse Accidentally Razed
CUMMING, Ga. - Three generations of James Wheeler's family were sheltered by a farmhouse built by his grandfather about 80 years ago. Now, there is only red dirt, weeds and scattered debris where the farmhouse once stood, thanks to a bulldozer that accidentally razed the house for a new subdivision.
"It can never be replaced," said Wheeler, a 57-year-old accountant. "My grandfather built that house in the 1920s. My mother was raised in that house. My grandfather made the cabinets. I didn't expect to lose those."
Dallas-based Centex Homes moved or demolished about 10 structures on the 83 acres around Wheeler's 22-acre plot to make room for about 335 homes.
"It was an unfortunate accident," said Jay Thrower, Centex's senior vice president. "Our property was next to his piece of property."
Thrower said the company's "No. 1 concern is trying to make it right for him."
Wheeler said no amount of money could make up for his loss.
He said he was stunned when his sister, Janice Chumley, called in late July to say the family farmhouse had disappeared. He went to the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office.
Deputy Jean Garner said he's seen mobile homes reported missing but never heard of a missing farmhouse. "I've been here since 1978, and this was a first."
The sheriff's office investigated, decided it was an accident and, therefore, a civil matter.
The workers also took down an apple tree and tore down a smokehouse.
"I remember helping my grandfather kill hogs there," Wheeler said. "We salted them and hung them in there."
After his grandparents died, the house went to Wheeler's mother. She moved into a retirement apartment three years ago, and the house had been vacant since. Wheeler said he checked on it about once a month, the last time in mid-June.
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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Comments
Oh my g*d, I got teary reading this.
Posted by: dena | September 10, 2004 4:31 PM
PUH-LEEZE!!! This man is trying to get money from a large corporation. I live in cumming and this farm house was an eye-sore that hadn't been lived in or visited by the family for YEARS - and it had a tree growing through the roof! Don't believe everything you read!!
Posted by: E | September 15, 2004 7:27 AM
Except, don't you think that it was wrong of them to pull it down without asking? We're renovating an old farmhouse that used to be an eyesore and I love it. Someone's eyesore is someone else's treasure, Iguess.
I think the development company was completely negligent in their haste to level everything in site.
Posted by: anon | September 15, 2004 10:59 AM