Portland, Missouri

This house is located directly off of Hwy 94 in Portland, Missouri. This is an exceptionally small town directly off of the river. It is about 40 miles from Jefferson City. The Katy Trail is 1/2 mile away right next to the river. There is only a bar in the town, and even that was closed when I was there. There were many stray dogs running loose. The nearest gas station is 15 miles away. The house is located seriously 6 feet off the highway. The house is right there when coming around a turn. The town is about a block long. And I saw maybe 24 houses of varying sizes and condition. This house is 180 years old and is best described as a Victorian cottage. The house is supposed to have some land, but what was there was densly overgrown with trees and bushes. I was not impressed at all with this house or the town.

It really didn't help that the real estate agent took forever to call me back and then was not very helpful. The owners apparently changed their phone number and did not answer the door when I tried to knock to view it, despite the fact that I had an appointment. So I didn't see the inside. The real estate ad made the house look great. You can view it HERE. But the main picture was taken from almost a 1/2 mile away across the highway near the Missouri River. The views here were Gorgeous but the safety of the kids if they were playing would be comprimised due to the proximity of the large river and the highway.

This was taken from the 70mph highway while moving. Yes this is the front of the house a whopping 6 feet from the highway.
This is the right side of the property. Directly after coming out of a turn....
This is the left side, picture was taken from parking spot (well ruts really in the yard)
This is the parking spot I mentioned, I turned my camera to the right and got this picture. It shows where the highway is......
This is a shot out of the windsheild from the parking spot. Notice the location of the boat It is right up against the house, which you could see in the earlier pictures. The yard is supposed to boast 2 apple trees, 2 cherry trees, and a blackberry bush. But you can see how overgrown it is. Very little area has been cleared for the house to have a yard.

471 Fourth Street, Rush Hill, MO 65280

This house was located in Rush Hill, Mo, which is approxiately 6 miles down the highway (rural highway) from Laddonia. It is very close to Mexico, Missouri as well.

This house is listed at $38,000. It has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom for a grand total of 1,144 square feet. It is an old house, built in 1880. It has a living room that measures 13.5x13.7. It is carped throughout with nasty looking carpet. At least one room has a stain that I believe to be animal pee. It does hace a lot size of 80x130. The house is served by propane, which costs approx $750 to fill the tank about once a year. It has a weird 'trailer' vibe to it. The town is located off a 2 lane blacktop road, however all the streets are gravel. And the town population is 102. It is somewhat near railroad tracks, and several of the neighbors have chickens and goats in their yards. The town is definetly shrinking. It was a thriving farmer town up until around 30 years ago. Since Mexico Missouri has built up it has dwindled. However it was very quiet. I was there for about an hour (the real estate agent was waiting for the keys which were supposed to be in a lock box but instead accidentaly got taken home with another agent) and I saw NO ONE. The house has a live well that is used for the garden and lawn. It is quaint. Although a tad over priced for the area (in my opinion). The origional real estate listing can be found HERE.

Everything pictured below comes with the house, including a washer, dryer, stove, large fridge, chest type deep freeze, bed, multiple desks and bookshelves, kitchen table and chairs, as well as a rolling island in the kitchen.

front of the house
right side of the house--door shown is enclosed porch/mudroom with washer and dryer
water leak in mudroom ceiling over hot water heater
this is the garage, it is detached and to the rear of the house. The garage door is on the left side of the house since the house is on a corner lot. Carport is kinda visable on right side of picture
here is a beter shot of the carport. in the very back of the picture you can see the corner of the house and the propane tank


This is a shot from the kitchen of the dining room. The doorway that the kids are walking thru is to the living room, the doorway on the right leads to the bathroom
This is the kitchen
This is the closet in the front bedroom which is to the right of the living room
This is the front bedroom from another angle
this is the living room picture taken from the front door
this is the right side of the house from the rear
this is the backyard, the rear of the house is on the right, and the carport is barely visable to the left. Just behind the propane tank is the workshop that is attached to the garage. It can also be a greenhouse
This is the yard on the right side of the house
This is a strange bedroom that is only accessed thru the master bedroom off of the kitchen, the doorway is tiny and it also has an outside exit with a storm door on the left of the room
Master bedroom

504 S. Western, Laddonia, Missouri 63352

This house was in Laddonia, Mo.

front of the house
bathroom on left side of the house in small hallway between 2 bedrooms
smaller bedroom in rear of left side of the house
master bedroom in front of the left side of the house
3rd bedroom maybe 10x10. could also be an office. It has separate enterance and is a portion of the garage.
This is the garage.
view out the back door--shed pictured at left belongs to the house
This is the kitchen, as viewed from the dining room, the door on the right leads to a small square shaped landing with 4 doors. One obviously is to the kitchen, from there turn left to reach back door, straight ahead to reach small office/bedroom, and right to reach garage that has work bench in it
This is the dining room. The real estate agent is standing in the doorway of the kitchen. The door shown on the left is the little hallway to the bedrooms and bathrooms
This is the living room. This picture was taken from the enterance of the dining room

This house is 100 years old, but it was so clean that you wouldn't realise it unless you asked. It has been completely remodeled. This house is listing for $44,900. The estimated property tax is $214. It has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom with a grand total of 1,084 square feet. The house has hardwood floors that are in good condition. The living room and one of the bedrooms has carpeting over the hardwood floors. The furnace is 13 years old. The house was resided in 1997. The kitchen has new ceramic tile, and a washer dryer hookup. There is also a vinyl sided storage shed in the rear of the house. It has a crawlspace, 1 car garage, gas forced air heat, window unit AC, city water ad sewer. The roof is asphault shingles. The origional realtors listing can be found HERE.

I like this house a lot too. It is probably my 2nd favorite. But I am not sure about Laddonia. However the town is a small one, it is very close to Mexico, Mo which is a larger town comparable to Troy. The house was very clean and move in ready. It has been empty for a few months, so they may come down slightly.

The cops old house...

I forgot the address of this one. But it is in Marceline, Mo. I think that it is listed for around $34,000. The real estate listing can be found HERE. Anyway here are the pics----

The front of the house
The living room looking toward the enclosed porch. The white door just to the left of the front door is a coat closet
This is another view of the living room. I like the glass block window.
A view of the kitchen from the doorway to it looking toward the left.
A view of the kitchen looking straight toward the back of the house from the doorway of the living room
Another kitchen shot...this one is the rear wall of the kitchen (you can see a little sliver of the livingroom doorway, and the right wall.
This is the smaller of 2 bedrooms. The door on the right is to the basement
Another angle of the smaller bedroom
Kitchen leading into the smaller bedroom
The large bedroom (it doesn't have a closet)

The origional french doors leading to the large bedroom. It is right off the living room.
Completely remodled bathroom
This is the attic which was partially finished. This is looking left immedieatly after walking up the stairs
This is looking straight ahead from the top of the stairs
This is looking right at the top of the stairs

These are the weird stairs. There is no railing and the opening to the attic does not have any bannister around it so it's just an opening in the floor. The door on the left is the bathroom
This is the left side of the enclosed porch
This is the right side of the porch. The white door is the coat closet, and the wooden door straight ahead is the enterance door.

From what I remember, here are the details -- It has heated water for a heating system. Those are visable in the rooms up against walls with a cushion over them like little benches. It has pretty hardwood floors, and was over all a decent looking house. The attic/refurbished bedroom areas leave alot to be desired. The steps leading up to them have a loft type of feel. The attic needs cleaned, and railings need to be put in to prevent an accidental misstep that would lead to a fall. Around the top of the living room they painted about 12" of the wall a darker color and added a shelf right where the dark color stopped. Looks okay, like a poorman's crown molding. In the front of the house there is a deep rut that is the 'gutter' for the rain water. I really didn't like this house all that much......

I fell in love with this one...................

For some strange reason this house just seems to possess my thoughts. It is located at 601 North Kansas Ave. in Marceline, MO. This house could easily be called 'Satan's Little Sister' especially if you are familiar with The Devil Queen. This house just has issues. But if you look past all the work, you can see a vision of what this house COULD be. Or more like it, what it SHOULD be, how beautiful she was in her full glory. The detail in the carved oak bannisters is still evident even through almost a century of thick poorly done paint. The small details like the antique metal fireplace that was removed but is still sitting in the front enterance area, or the leaded glass window in the master bedroom and the parlor. The way there is a bench in the bay window halfway up the stairs where they turn to go up the rest of the way. The wood floor that is inlayed with a pattern of reducing rectangles is a light oak color or maybe light pine and is in a bad need of refinishing. The details make this house have character. And when I looked at her all I saw was highly glossy floors, light airy colors, and an elegance that couldn't be touched.

It was this house that made me look to Marceline in the first place. This house that made me want to buy a home of our own. CLICK HERE to see the agent listing and why I loved it so much at first glance.


I have been told (supposedly as a secret between me and my realtor) that the lowest the owner will go is $18,000. He is asking $25,000. Several offers ranging from $2,000 to $8,000 have been placed. The agent thinks $15,000 will fix her up right. I am seriously considering it. But she is too much for us to handle. I know it. But I almost want to do it anyway. Because even though I see what's wrong, I don't see it in the shape its in. I see it as it should be.

So here's the pics of the old gal (she'll be 100 in 2010!)


rear half of great room
The kid in the orange shorts is walking over the buckling area in the floor.
This is the front portion of the great room. The door pictured at the end is the porch and the entry to the right of the screen is to an alcove that contains the 2nd entry to the parlor (first is off the porch) and the landing of the stairs and one enterance to the kitchen.
This is the new plumbing that was done. And the HUGE hole in the ceiling that was created to access this leak. Some water damage is visable in the top left corner
Strange little cubby like hole that was probably a windowless breakfast nook but now houses the Washer and dryer

view of back yard from the deck
This is the kitchen looking to the left from the enterance off the dining room/rear of the great room. For some reason the door was sealed off and a doorway was installed perhaps or maybe it was always there but it is just off screen to the left
This is the kitchen looking straight on from the dining room. I really liked the cutout woodwork over the sink....
This is a poor picture of the fireplace that was removed. The wall is slightly bowed inwards and just lumpy looking. Appears to be sagging plaster at first glance.....
The roof leaked before it was repaired. Evidence is shown here over the stairs

fuse box
one bedroom upstairs complete with tons of crap
bathroom downstairs
upstairs bathroom
another bedroom this one is "L" shaped
other half of the 'L' shaped bedroom
This is a pretty window in the 'master' bedroom. The floor here has a slight angle that is midly noticable because it is over the missing fireplace and subsequent 'buldge'
3rd upstairs bedroom
this is a shot of part of the hallway and the chipped and missing plaster at the corner of the stairs
missing wall area on 2nd half of split staircase
exterior of house on a painted side. Notice the broken windows
Here is the buldge. It is much easier to see with an enlarged picture, just click it to see. This is the unpainted side of the house. The left side of the picture shows the neighbors carport which is disturbingly close.
Under the deck is the access to the basement. If you enlarge the picture you can see old towels crammed next to the door where some concerete has broked away. They are apparently there to stop water damage

The house was built in 1910. It comes with all the old crap pictured that the owners left in it. YAY!!! Other peoples trash!!!! How Lucky!!! It is approx 2000 sq ft. A 2 story frame house with a block and poured foundation. The basement has a separate enterance below the deck in the rear. The roof is shingled and is 7 years old. The old owners only painted the 3 sides of the house that were visable from the street (it's on a corner lot). The floors are hardwood and need refinishing. In the rear portion of the great room there is a buckle upwards of 3 or 4 boards. The house is insulated with R15 blown and rolled. It has gas heat and window unit AC. The house does have screens on the windows and 2 ceiling fans. The hot water heater is electric and is a 40gallon. The house comes with range, refrigerator, washer and dryer all of which appear like new. The cabinets are metal and the floor in the kitchen is vinyl. The house has city water, sewer, natural gas. It's in the city so there is sidewalks and blacktop streets. The lot size is 50x140. The house has 220 volt wiring, outside lights, a closed front porch (where the removed fireplace is sitting) and a deck. It comes with a sattelite dish. The Living room and Dining room are combined in a 'great room' style but the individual measurements are 14x15.5 for the living room, and 16x14 for the dining room, the kitchen measures 15x12, the bathroom on the main floor is a half bath and is 7x6.5. The house has a parlor that measures 10x11. The enclosed front porch area measures 4x6 and is shaped like half a hexagon. The pantry off of the kitchen measures 4x7. That was the room count on the first floor. The 2nd floor has 3 additional bedrooms 11x14, 14x13, and 11x16 but 1 is larger mostly due to the 'L' shape of it. The bathroom upstairs is a full bath measuring 12x7.

Comments from the realtor include this information:

The fireplace was removed and the wall boxed back in. The exterior wall (that the fireplace was origionally located in) is showing some signs of bowing and will need attention at some point. THe owner has lived in this house several years and says the condition of this wall has not changed so there is no immediate cause for alarm. The home is heated with a natural gas forced air furnace that is about 2 years old, and cooled with window units upstairs and down. There has not been a termite inspection but the owner said that with all the work he has done throughout the house he has never seen any sign of a problem. The foundation itself appears to be in good shape. The plumbing is in good working order. The previous owner had a leak in the upstairs bathroom which he repaired by going thru the kitchen ceiling, the good news it that you can see that he replaced the plumbing the bad news is that he failed to replace the kitchen ceiling. The owner claims that all the wiring is in good working order. The owner says "I have made concessions in pricing my house for sale and do not intend to spend any more money in repairs" The ceiling thoughout are high 10 ft. But some have been 'dropped' to 8 ft. The downstairs parlor has a door that opens to the enclosed front porch and another door that opens to the rest of the house. The annual property taxes are $210.