The Vanishing House at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake Part 1

Lately, I've been setting new records for being late to work. Just call me Dagwood Bumstead.

There's a variety of reasons why: trains blocking the RR tracks; long lines of traffic due to construction at the Route 611 highway interchange; and general congestion on I-90 resulting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on perfectly sunny, accident-free days. So, last Friday I decided to start taking Lake Road to Clague Road, and picking up the interstate there for the last leg of my commute.

There's something timeless and relaxing about taking that stretch of two-lane U.S. 6 to work. Lake Erie looms into view occasionally, and there's an interesting mixture of residences – cottages, century homes, 1950s and 60s ranches and ridiculously huge modern mansions  – to make the route through Avon Lake and Bay Village interesting.

The view on Sunday afternoon

Sometimes, however, a view that you've gotten used to for years can suddenly disappear. An old house is torn down, a new one goes up, and you soon discover that you can't even remember what was there before.

But that's progress.

Which brings me to today's topic: namely, the house at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake (just a little west of Route 83). I noticed it on Friday, and my heart sank.

That's it (at left).

The house is slowly being demolished – but not in the usual way. Instead, it is more of a surgical removal. It looks like it is doing a vanishing act – the way termites reduce a house to sawdust in an animated TV cartoon.

Apparently the whole property had sold last fall.

I've never researched the house behind the spiked iron fence (and I don't intend to, either) but it was obviously from the 1800s, which was confirmed by the Lorain County Auditor website.

Here's what it looked like in happier times (below), courtesy of the Auditor website.