3 Abandoned Houses Begging To Be Restored

Do broken shutters, peeling paint and overgrown yards of abandoned buildings beckon you? For many of us, abandoned houses have a mysterious and haunting beauty. They may have weathered clapboard and boarded windows, but their souls still cry out for redemption.  I wish I could wave a magic wand and make these abandoned houses shine again. Here are a few that are currently on the market for under $50K.

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404 S Sterling St, Streator, IL, 61364.     $13,000

This old Streator, IL, house may have little, if any, redeeming qualities except for its history. At least two occupants died untimely deaths in this home. In 1902, the seemingly healthy woman owner keeled over and dropped dead. In 1904, the home served as a boarding house. At one time, the widow landlord boarded up to 10 lodgers at a time at $5 each per week. By the mid-1940s, the then handyman special house was put up for sale at $4,500.  The new owner rented it to relatives who sired a couple of hooligan sons. As teens, they constantly got into trouble with the law, mainly underage drinking, disorderly conduct, and vehicular violations, including drunk driving, and driving without a license. It did not come as a surprise, when in 1976, at the age of 25, one of the sons was found dead in his bed by his father in this home. Death was confirmed as massive necrosis of the liver due to alcoholism. The other son continued to have trouble with the law due to alcohol-related vehicular accidents. The home stayed in the same family until around 2010. See pics and details here.

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2187 Concord St, Detroit, MI, 48207.        $5,000

 

 

This home stands alone and forlorn, surrounded by vacant lots and abandoned houses. In the early 1900s, however, this was a family’s dream house.  All they had to do was put $100 down and purchase a home in this neighborhood for $2,150. It came with cement sidewalks, gas, china closets and large rooms. Today, the home is selling for $5,000, and about the only thing it still has is the cement sidewalks. See pics and details here.

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1324 Warner St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15233              $40,900

 

Built in 1892, this old townhouse is located in the up and coming Manchester neighborhood.  The rotting clapboard is covered in vines, but the beautiful fireplace and floor-to-ceiling cupboard still stand as a testament of the good old days. See pics and details here.

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