The Old Gray House On McCulloch Avenue

The Old Gray House On McCulloch Avenue



Written on September 1. 2010 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona


There is something about old houses that draws me like flies to cow pies, fascinates me, lets me spin stories about the people who spent their life there. Were they happy, was there tragedy, did someone burn it down on purpose? In all the years old houses have caught my attention, I have never solved the mystery of the occupants within.

In the late 80’s in Evergreen, Colorado I watched a house and the grounds around it slowly deteriorate. I was told that the wife left her husband and he was just letting things run down, I imagined that grief could do that. As the years went by, the upstairs windows caved in as well as part of the roof, but still the man continued to live there. Our children came to visit and I would point it out, year after year and they told me that every time we drove by there I would say the same thing. I think they wondered if “mother” was losing it. I pointed out that the next time they came I would drive them by there and say the same thing until I had solved the mystery. I never did.


A few years ago my daughter Audrey and I drove around in downtown Chicago. On one of the corners stood a huge brownstone, it stood empty and a "for sale" sign was posted. I don’t know how old this house was, but it was an architectural masterpiece. We got out and looked around, the wooden front door was beautifully carved and we wondered why it stood empty.


At Christmas a year later my daughters Audrey, Christine and I drove to the Chicago Zoo to see the Christmas lights at night. On the way back we happened to drive by the same old house. There was no way that we would just drive by. We got out and looked around, we noticed that there had been a fire, the first floor windows were boarded up, the once magnificent, carved front door was boarded up as well. Another mystery remained unsolved.


In 1999 we moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The city is new, has no history but boasts to be the proud owner of the “London Bridge” which once spanned the Themes River in England. There are no old houses here, no mystery and no history.


About two years ago on the corner of McCulloch Avenue and Landau Street I noticed a gray sided old house. It looks neglected and has kept me fascinated for nearly two years. I’m not sure it’s “old”, but it is certainly in shameful condition. What first caught my attention was the fact that the backyard was filled to overflowing with furniture. At first I thought that someone was being evicted, later it looked like it was being renovated. The yard was filled with stuff for sale, old computer monitors, two old trucks, stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer and a endless rotation of junk for sale and it still goes on.


At first, two younger looking men sat on the front stoop and after a while only one man was left. He could have been in his twenties or thirties, it was hard to tell. In summer he sits there half naked, a dark blue recliner sits inside the front door which looks like it is fairly new. Once or twice two policemen stood there talking to him and the mystery of it was eating me alive. I drove my husband crazy with my incessant speculation about this man, this house and what was happening there. There is no electricity or any utility services and the lights are never on in the evening.


A month or more ago his front yard was littered with soft drink cans, bottles and fast food wrappings, now and then I see him walking to the gas station/convenience store at the corner of McCulloch and Jamaica and I assume that’s where he buys whatever food he needs.


In the last two years I have seen a wild haired woman there twice. She sits with him on the front stoop and smokes, is she his mother, sister, someone he picked up for a night of comfort, but who would follow him to this dilapidated shack? 

A few weeks ago the front window looked like a rock was thrown in, or something thrown at it from the inside, the "for sale" sign vanished and the hole remains.

Now that we have entered September there is new activity, today, a white pickup truck is parked in front of the house and it looks like there are boxes inside, the front yard is once again littered with soft drink or beer cans, carelessly tossed aside a white ceiling fan rests atop another pile of junk, other debris has been added. Sometimes I take another route to town just to avoid my endless wondering. What drives me craziest is the question, how can someone sit there from morning to night without at least reading something, tapping his foot to music only he can here or just staring straight ahead. Will this writer’s questions “Who, what, where, when and how” ever be answered? Unless I finally stop and just ask, I doubt it. Another mystery unsolved and new ones just over the horizon. 

September 16.2010....the mystery continues....

The white truck is gone, once again the front yard was littered with empty cans and garbage in general, more junk appeared. Now the junk is more or less gone, as is the "for sale" sign in the window and the front door is no longer open from morning to dusk....it's driving me crazy, I need to know the story, how/where it began, and where is is going and how it will end.