From mansion to burned ‘squatter house’: Eastmoreland demolition

Published 12:00 am Sunday, October 27, 2024

By DAVID F. ASHTON
For THE BEE

These images, taken by a Portland Housing Bureau Inspector, show the conditions inside this Eastmoreland structure after the major fire that recently tore through it.

Several Eastmoreland neighbors stood by and cheered on Wednesday, September 25th, looking on as a troubled “squatter house” in their midst was undergoing demolition – being deconstructed down to its basement, where even the concrete was to be removed.

Unless someone had a specific reason to visit 3735 S.E. Martins Street in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, the 6,345 sq. ft. castle-like residence would have gone unnoticed. Being situated at the eastern dead end of the street – where the road turns into an overgrown dirt path – the location was ideal its original purpose: It was an adult foster-care home that had been incorporated as “Dove Care Center, Inc.” in 1994.

The house was built in 1991, and this adult care-home business – and several other businesses, including an adoption agency – were owned by OrvaLee Ann Farris. All ended at her death on April 11, 2020. At that time, the “market value” of the property was estimated at $1,229,560.

Fire ravages building

“After the owner passed away in 2020, the neighboring property owners were traumatized by years of drug activity, trespassers, illegal burning, and [an automobile] chop-shop at this house,” Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association President Jane Monson commented to THE BEE.

When a massive fire erupted from the back of the residence on October 19, 2021, the structure was not believed to be occupied – but neighbors said, at the time, they saw squatters “flee like rats from a sinking ship”. A firefighter was injured while attacking the blaze.

The fire left gaping holes in the roof, and rain further damaged the house for the next three years – a fact that was noticed by City of Portland Housing Inspectors, who issued a series of code violation notices to the legal trustees responsible for the house.

Eventually, the City of Portland Hearings Office issued an order that the building be demolished, observing that the property had accumulated 16 violations and notations, including:

  • No water service
  • No electrical service
  • Deemed dangerous structure due to a hazard, hazard to safety and public welfare, public nuisance, and chronic dereliction
  • Roof damaged and deteriorated
  • Wiring pulled out from wall sockets
  • Areas of interior ceiling, floor and walls are buckled, collapsed, deteriorated, and not structurally sound.
  • Trash and debris accumulated in the interior, creating rodent harborage and unsanitary conditions
  • Structure repeatedly broken into, and intermittently (one night at a time) occupied by unlawful entrants

The report included numerous photographs that documented the dilapidated condition of the property after the fire.

The owner – in this case, the mortgage holder – was required to either repair and rehabilitate the structure, or to demolish it, and to obtain the required permits for that by May 12. Apparently, the bank chose to have the house demolished.

“We’re glad this nightmare is finally coming to an end,” exclaimed a neighbor, who asked not to be identified, as chunk-by-chunk the derelict house was demolished.

It’s not a total loss for the bank – which will be able to sell this prime lot to a builder, to construct a new home there.

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