As the sun was setting on the last Saturday of January, I found my way back to that single block of Evans Avenue just north of Grand Center in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood that I looked at back in February of 2015, almost four years ago.

Some things did not seem to have changed, such as the funky house above that has seen many interesting renovations over the years. It started as a stately upper class home, and then as the neighborhood became lower income, a business opened up in the basement and the upstairs was probably divided into a rooming house. Below, an Italianate cornice has “mysteriously” lost all of its corbels–almost certainly to thieves.

These three houses below on the south side of the street look like they’re in great shape, but they’re all abandoned; they have so much potential so close to the new development happening in Midtown.

I love this house below, with its copper flashing missing.

And then we get to the travesty. Ironically, of the three houses still standing in a row on the north side of the street at the eastern end of the block, the one house that was in the best condition is now a pile of rubble.

While its less preserved neighbors are battered by the removal of their cornices and downspouts, sold off to a scrapyard with no questions asked.

The last house clearly had neighbor which shared it party wall. Party walls did not use the hardy exterior brick that was more weatherproof, so as you can see, it has been pummeled with water, freezing and the wind, collapsing from the top down.

Just to the north of Cozens Avenue, this duplex is still in good condition, and shows that these are still viable houses that can be rehabbed successfully.