Bargin?

Mercy Haus was listed on Yahoo real estate for 6k in the summer of 2008. There were few photos of the property and little information regarding lot size and square footage. Investigating county tax records uncovered quite a bit of information.

The lot measured 75’ x 125’. Square footage was listed at 1500, though it is double that. Four bedrooms, one bath. The owner had purchased the property from a bank in 2006 for 13k. His mailing address was listed out of state. Taxes were up to date.

A walk through was scheduled and when we arrived the agent had to break into the house because there was no key. The first room we entered was the kitchen. All that remained was a broken dishwasher and gaping drain pipes. 

The next was the dining room, also completely bare. This pattern continued throughout the entire house. It had been totally stripped. This was a benefit in terms of garbage removal, though it did not outweigh the extreme damage the house suffered.  

Almost a year prior there had been a roof fire which was believed to be started by lightning in the southwest corner stack. The damage caused by the lightning was minimal; it left a crispy corner which had little open sky exposed. The majority of the problems stemmed from the 5’ x 4’ hole cut by the firefighters in order to save the house and its neighbors.  This is where the trickle effect began.

The bedroom directly under the hole was damp, sooty and filled with crumbling drywall and plaster. The dining room was beneath this soggy mess and had begun to suffer the same fate: wet walls, wet insulation, sooty everything. Water damage is one of the worst fates for a house, it weakens studs and walls, destroys ceilings and breeds mold.

It was clear that the price of 6k was a hopeful request on behalf of an absentee owner. After our walk-though, we offered $3,600. They accepted and we got ears deep in the world of deconstruction and renovation.

Foundation

Mercy haus was built in the 1920's Balloon-framed from rough hemlock. There are two entrances. One obvious from the street, though unnecessarily complicated to reach. The second, on the east side, squeezed at the end of a narrow cement walk.

 

Original siding was a cedar shiplap and over the years insul-brick and Pittsburgh steel siding were added to the exterior. Two additions were built, one soon after the original structure was completed as evidenced by the rough timber used. The second added much later, perhaps in the fifties when particle board and flimsy framing were the standard. 

The ground floor sits in the hill: half PA stone and mortar buried under street level, the other half open to the air, overlooking the south. The stone supports the original structure, and through open fire stops you can see clear to the roof. The first chimbley feet begin here. 

The exposed half of the ground floor is split in two; the first addition framed with hemlock and sided with matching cedar shiplap where the second chimbleys feet begin, and the second newest addition poured with cement and glassed in creating a functional conservatory. 

Two south-east walls are made entirely of glass. One door leads to the middle half of the .25 acre lot, on the other end, another opens to the deck.

This home was bought for $3600 in the summer of 2008. Next time I will tell you how.