Company Demolishes Wrong House

A company accidentally demolished the wrong house on a street in Dallas, Texas.

Family-owned company JR Demolition and Excavating Inc. was supposed to knock down a house on Richard Avenue. However, the company mistakenly destroyed a 97-year-old house on the same street instead. The demolished residence once belonged to Mary Ann Degataire, who painted the house’s exterior pink as homage to the time she spent living in the Cayman Islands.

Degataire left the property to her friend, Jeremy Wenninger, when she died. Wenninger became the legal owner of the house last year, and he and a co-owner have been renovating the property ever since.

The owner of the demolition company apologized for the mistake. He explained that the property did not have a house number, and the address on the street curb was covered with water because of heavy rain. The house’s state was also similar to that of other properties that the company had demolished in the area. When employees of the company inspected the house, they found that it was stripped of plumbing and electricity and lacked a concrete foundation. Neighbors added that the property was vacant, and several homeless people had tried settling in the house before.

The property’s co-owner acknowledged that the house was in disarray but said that the house was still habitable. He and Wenninger were heartbroken upon hearing the news of the accidental demolition because they had been struggling to save the house for the last two years.

The demolition company is currently working on a resolution with Wenninger. Wenninger hopes that the company’s final offer recognizes the sentimental value of the house.