I sometimes write about buildings that have been torn down. I now turn my attention to buildings that are in limbo.
As the word implies, limbo can last a long time. Buildings can be emptied, boarded up and left unused for years, hovering between life and death.
Hotel Diamond in downtown Chico was in limbo when I came here 10 years ago, but developer Wayne Cook finally brought it back to life for another turn as a hotel, restaurant and bar.
Another notable downtown building that has been in limbo for a long time is the Old City Hall on Main Street. It has been around since 1911, but hasn't been used since the mid-1990s, when the city moved its offices to new adjacent buildings. It's now being brought back to life. The city again needs the space for offices.
In the South Campus neighborhood, wedged between an imposing Italianate Victorian and a handsome prairie-style building, is a modest bungalow that has been boarded up for more than a decade. Chico State University owns all three of the buildings, but hasn't found a use for the middle one for a long time. It was once the home of Anna Barney, dean of men and women at Chico State.
A block to the south of these buildings, the site of the now-defunct Chi Tau fraternity has been boarded up for about three years. This is where Matthew Carrington died of water intoxication while pledging the fraternity. A century ago, this colonial revival was one of the neighborhood's grand corner houses. Today, it sits empty, surrounded by a chain link fence, waiting for a buyer.
For most of a year, the craftsman bungalow on the southeast corner of Woodland Avenue and Cypress Street was in limbo. Its doors and windows were boarded up and the grass in the front yard grew tall. But in the last three months, the house, which once marked the eastern edge of Chico, has come back to life. The house was built in 1912 for William Guynn. As the owner of the Park Garage, Guynn was one of Chico's first auto dealers.
Right now the house on Third Street between Orient and Olive streets and an adjacent guest house over a garage are shuttered, but won't stay that way. A new owner plans to subdivide the large lot into four lots, two of which will be next to Annie's Glen. The existing structures will be retained.
So far, I haven't been able to find out much about this house's history. I'd appreciate it if anyone with information about it would let me know.
The house on the southwest corner of 14th and Mulberry streets went into limbo within the last year. In the time I've been in Chico, many of the houses along Mulberry have been renovated, which makes this one look especially forlorn.
About Me: Steve Brown is a copy editor at the Enterprise-Record. He began his blog,
"But This is Chico, too," in 2006. His column, "But This is Chico," ran in
the E-R from 2001 to 2008. He's a flaneur, which is a sentient ambler
through urban space. He sometimes writes about his adventures as a flaneur
in his blog. He hopes to eventually walk every block in Chico.
Steve, you say the formerly nice Craftsman house at Cypress and Woodland is coming back to life but it still looks pathetic with its broken windows, plywood still covering some windows, and tacky plastic fence.
Do you know something that isn't apparent on the surface?
Hi Steve,
I have owned the house and property on the corner of 14th & Mulberry and plan to construct a 2-story home on the corner. I have gone through a lot split which will allow me to build a modest, second home along 14th Street for another future resident to invest and grow equity in the neighborhood.
I can forward you some images of what I hope and intend to accomplish within the next year. You can contact me via email.
David Kim
Hi Steve,
Unfortunately the home you've mentioned at the southeast corner of Woodland and Cypress Streets remains in limbo. Some of the windows to the back of the home remain boarded up, and still many of it's windows are broken out. The police were there just recently with guns drawn because a fugitive was hiding out inside. With an out of the country owner, it remains a problem to our neighborhood.
Marci
Greg,
As you can see by the previous comment, I was completely wrong about that house.
Steve
Marci, do you know whether the property is the subject of some kind of probate/estate fight? The reason I ask is that I remember a very elderly woman that used to live there when the home was still lovingly maintained.
Sadly, I assume that she may have passed away so I wonder whether the property is now tied up in some kind of fight over the estate.
I also remember that for a period of time - perhaps six months - as the home began its slide into decrepitude, two early 1960s Cadillacs with British Columbia plates could be seen parked in the driveway.
I certainly wish the property would be sold to an owner who would restore it to its previous condition and remove that ugly fence. The house is a treasure in and of itself but made more important by its location at the main entrance to the park.
For the sake of your neighborhood and the city I hope the house passes into the hands of a new, resident owner soon.
Greg,
The current owner bought the house in July 2006. It has gone down hill
ever since then.
I know the city is concerned about the property, they are the ones that boarded it up this spring because it had become a public nuisance.
For the sake of our neighborhood and the rest of the city that is concerned about it (I get asked all the time) we could only hope that the current owner would just sell and let someone that appreciates the house and it's location buy it and restore it to it's former glory!
Marci
I could tell you all about this house & the present owner.
Gavin bought this house at the height of the market. His plan was to restore it & live there but he's gone through an ugly divorce over the past couple of years.
If the market was the same as when he bought, he'd have sold the house. Before the market crashed he was being bombarded with calls from Realtors with claims of prospective purchasers but every person that contacted Gavin or his wife had ridiculous ideas of buying the house for $.25 on the dollar.
Gavin is a highly educated guy. I know it sounds odd if you've seen him but trust me...Gavin went to Law school & graduated at the top of his class. He's run several HUGELY successful businesses before his marriage issues changed his life radically.
Gavin has big hopes & dreams & he's back on track but as far as the beautiful old Craftsman...it's destined to be a rental house until the market returns to what it was...which it looks like could be many, many years.
Just thought I'd shed some light for you.