The Old John and Sophie Harms Place, in Need of Landscaping

Since I can't go to libraries to research more complex topics, I think I'll just drag out some random pictures that I haven't gotten around to posting before.

To start off: Eldon and Norma Harms' new home on Cleveland Avenue as it looked in the summer of 1957, just after they bought it from Eldon's Aunt Sophie.


(Click on images to enlarge)
Images courtesy of Eldon Harms.



I like these photos because this is how my property is going to look when somebody finally buys it from me or my estate — that is, overgrown and in need of attention. When Sophie (Schavey) Harms sold the property, she was about 76 years old and had been widowed for over a decade. The upkeep of the old place was too much for her. Eldon and Norma had a lot of work to do to tame the wilderness.

The outbuildings were in the same condition. Here is the barn …



… and the granary:




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[5/13/2020 update] Thanks to Aaron (in the comments to this post), we now have some fairly recent Google street view screenshots of the old house.

August 2008:

(Click on images to enlarge)

October 2008:


July 2009, showing the mound of bare earth where the house has been demolished:


That mound of earth is grown over with grass now. Eldon pointed it out to me, one day when we were driving past there, as the approximate site of the house.

He said that trying to wallpaper in that house was a frustrating experience, since none of the corners were square — perhaps because they never had been square, or perhaps the structure had settled unevenly.