The Kool-Aid House - Englewood, CO

For the 150th post in Four Baggers two and a half year history, I wanted to come up with a special story to commemorate this milestone. This story is one that I was saving for an occasion such as this. 

A simple little 100 year old house in Englewood, Colorado, demolished for bigger, newer and shinier (and profits!). Even the departed homes still have stories to tell. This is the story of the Kool-Aid House!

Ohhhh Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah!

I was first tipped off on this place by a friend of mine. He would share information about abandoned buildings on his end of Englewood, since he knew of my fascination with them and local history. He'd been telling me about a house by his, that was about to be demolished. Definitely I should check it out.

February 5, 2017. 

The old house is definitely in it's last days. Holes are dug in the yard for disconnection/removal of utilities, and the property has been cleared of the all the clutter that was once here. I'll let my friend tell some stories of the house, mixed in with my pictures from two separate visits that month. After this side note that will make a couple of my readers happy...

For those 201 Proof Television fans, this house was located next to the grave of one Pepe Goutfisch.

(If you dare to watch...)

Properly somber...

A few years earlier, my friend told me about another house on his block that was set for demolition. He kept telling me to come and check it out before it was gone. The last tenants were a group of bikers that absolutely trashed the place, he said. Punched holes in the walls and broke everything that could possibly be broken under the roof. And around it too. This photo (taken April 13, 2013) is sadly the only one I took of the place before it was demolished.

The new house built on the land (photo taken April 20, 2014) was listed for $550k when it was built. 

Which is what the inner-ring suburbs of Denver are facing when it comes to an aging stock of available real estate. Run down and obsolete houses are bought "cheaply" and then demolished, with a new sleek and modern model built in their place. With the astronomical prices that real estate in Denver now fetch, this is a smart move for developers. There's a lot of profit potential for scraping these old homes in favor of building and selling stuff that looks like this...

Location is always key to real estate. In this case, you have available property less than a few blocks away from Swedish Medical Center...

A hospital that large needs a bunch of people to help run it. A house near by would have a great deal of appeal to those looking to live nearby their high paying job. And you'd need a high paying job to live in this area.

If the hospital wasn't enough, Broadway Avenue is just a few blocks west of the doomed house. Allowing convenient access to an easy travel into downtown Denver. I lived just off Broadway for 12 years, and loved that convenience...

So yes, the location of this property has a lot of positives going for it. And while I don't know what the Kool-Aid House sold for, combined with the cost of clearing the property and building new, I'm certain whomever took this project on, walked away with a tidy profit. And more power to you!

What's forgotten is the house itself, and the tiny history it has. Since I quickly developed an interest in the property, I wanted to tell it's last story. Coming after what I'm sure was an interesting 100 plus years on the chunk of Englewood. I'll let Anonymous Englewood Source drop some setting.

I took this first set of pictures on February 5, 2017. Parked the car down the block and walked up to the house, then around the property. It was early enough on a Sunday morning that no one was awake or really paying attention.

Since the house was empty, with several uncovered windows, I could take a quick peek inside to see the layout and what was left behind by the previous owners.

Standing on the front porch, looking inside the left window, into what appeared to be a small bedroom. It also appears that the previous occupants liked to scribble on the walls.

The north side of the house.

Looking into the far window on the north wall. Another bedroom, painted bright blue. These windows were exceptionally dirty, so the pictures look even more out of focus.

A broken window on the front door, opens into a small living room. Decorated with not only the Kool-Aid man, but some mushrooms and Satan as well.

Walking back around to the south side of the house, and a look into those filthy windows.

The first small bedroom's door, to the right of the house's front door.

Really should have painted him breaking through the wall, instead of surrounded by what looks like blue lightning bolts of electricity.

This window was pained over. A long time ago, so the paint was peeling. With some plywood patching up a couple panes of broken glass. I'm sure that helped keep the bathroom at a comfortable temperature in the winter.

An open space in the foundation allowed for a glimpse of the underside of the house.

Uncovered window peers into the kitchen, with a very small laundry room on the far side.

Boarded up back door of the house.

Back of the house. The yard was relatively clean at the point I was taking these pictures. I'll let Anonymous Englewood Source tell you some more about the condition of the yard, before I showed up to take these pictures.

The kitchen through a dirt covered window. Complete with bad Dark Side of the Moon painted cupboards and a dislodged trap door in the floor.

Stove and fridge, moved away from their previous wall placement.

And that was pretty much all I could see today. So I walked back to the front of the house on the way to my car.

Avoiding the hole dug into the ground between the curb and sidewalk, just next to the path leading to the front stairs.

Which were not taken by the shovel climbing up the embankment. Leaving some nice scars going up the hill, and through/over the fence.

Less than two weeks later, I was told to come back and get some more photos. All of the windows had been removed from the house, so I could get some better pictures of the inside.

Those wounds from the shovel have healed since I was last here. However, the fence had not...

The place looked even sadder without it's windows, shielding the interior from the elements.

Looking into the living room, with the short hallway leading to the kitchen at the far end.

I'm okay with how they painted the pitcher, and even the legs and arms. But when it came to the feet and hands of the Kool-Aid Man, all they could come up with was green blobs. This piece could have been cool...

The giant mushrooms are better, although the crow beside them needs some work...

The floors need some waxing and sealing to protect their integrity.

Removing all of the windows in the house included the painted over ones covering up the bathroom, which I didn't get pictures of, the last time I was here.

Toilet still has water in it, which is kind of surprising to me. 

Rickety bathroom shelf, stuffed in the doorway. More unfinished artwork is scribbled on the walls.

And someone needs to clean the tub.

Continuing back to the kitchen. This window is now removed as well. So I could look in and see that it's been years since the floor had been swept under the fridge.

Inside the boarded up back door.

Looking into the removed kitchen back window, facing the counter, sink and opened trap door.

Better picture of the brilliant painting on the cupboards. With some knick-knacky stuff left behind on top of them.

Laundry room.

My friend told me the following story, long before I ever checked out this house.

A memorial to this woman, painted on the wall.

Back of the house, window removed.

All shingles have been peeled off the roof of the house, with a large hole at the peak. They should probably seal that up before a bunch of moisture gets into the attic.

The Blue Bedroom, now with better views of the interior thanks to the removed windows. 

I like the blue hand prints on the door a lot. They go well with the mushrooms across the hall.

It's too bad they never got to finish all of their interior art projects. If I had a house like this, I'd like to do something similar. Painting a bunch of weird stuff all over the walls looks pretty cool if done right. This isn't exactly the way I'd do it, but in theory... Of course the house I'm living in now is  not appropriate for this kind of painting. But I like the idea of this, if not the execution...

Dirt-clouded window removed, I could finally see the front bedroom.

With a better view of the black circle-star scribbled on the wall. 

I'm not sure if they were going for a pentagram?

Some more incomplete artwork in the front bedroom.

March 5, 2017. My last picture of the Kool-Aid House, fully intact.

Just over a month later, April 9th, 2017, the Kool-Aid House is gone.

One year (minus one day) later, on April 8th, 2018:

This would be the last I saw of the property before I left Colorado. 

I can only assume what the completed structure looks like.

I absolutely understand the investment potential in redeveloping these properties, and am in no way deriding their right to profit from the work put in to change the landscape. But personally, speaking as someone who has no stake in the financials whatsoever, would I rather see more of these boring boxy piles of right angles, or something with a little more character and personality?

Ohhhh Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah!

******

Special thanks to Anonymous Englewood Source. Sorry for bugging you so much to get it done!