THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH BOUGHT THE PROPERTY, TASKING THE HOMEOWNER WITH THE CLEANUP
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What a Find!
In 2021, I came across photos of a abandoned property on a Facebook group, Old, Abandoned and Interesting Places - Florida. The photos depicted a property on a couple of acres, chockfull of aging cars, trucks, boats, and structures.
Being no one other than myself, I had to make a trip to see it!
In this blog post, I will discuss what I know about the property, as well as my experience during our visit!
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The Property Belonged to the Duncans...
This 3.7-acre abandoned property, located at 385 S. Old Kings Road in Ormond Beach, Florida, belonged to the Duncans.
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Paul Duncan was the owner of this property, to which he allowed his mom to live, until the city purchased it in 2019. For the ten years preceding the purchase, the city of Ormond Beach pursued the property, with Paul refusing their offer to buy due to his mother living in the home.
Why Did The City Want The Property?
The city of Ormond Beach has wanted claim on the property on the south end of Central Park Phase III for some years. Because of it's size and location, the city would be given the opportunity to increase it's floodplain storage capacity.
Floodplain storage is basically a computer-calculated model that maps out the natural flood storage capacity of a specific area in a watershed. The area gets wet, and having the opportunity to use this area so conveniently located in the city was valuable to the city of Ormond Beach.
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Complicated Negotiations
Paul Duncan seemed to have known the value of this large property in the geographically small, but relatively popular and extraordinarily beautiful, city of Ormond Beach, FL.
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In negotiations to sell, Paul Duncan requested that the city name the lake that would be dug into the plot of land after his family. He also wanted the allowance to take everything on the property with him, which includes the house, several abandoned vehicles, boats, tires and other household items. He wanted the use of the property for one year after selling, to be able to retain his things from the property, and wanted 50% of the money for the property upfront.
Despite The Challenging Negotiations, The City of Ormond Beach, Florida, Eventually Goes On To Buy the Property
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The Ormond Beach City Commission approved the purchase of the property at 385 S. Old Kings Road for $285.000 at its meeting on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. The Commission established that the city would retain $65,000 of the purchase price, in effort to motivate Duncan to remove the remaining personal items and property from the residence. The commission was, also, favorable toward paying tribute to the Duncan family in some way, but that aspect is not legally binding. A memorial bench or plaque were discussed at the workshop as possibilities.
At the time of the sale, and when I visited the property, there was a large assortment of abandoned vehicles, boats, tires, household items, medical supplies, as well as 37 discarded 55-gallon drums, some of which have brake cleaning fluid.
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Removal of the items at the property was estimated to cost anywhere between $25,000-$50,000, which provides for the need of $65,000 in escrow.
A Hoard Of Items, It Was
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The amount of items and large vehicles, trucks, and boats on this 3.7 acre plot of land was incredible to me. How someone could obtain so many things created a sense of wonder about the history of the family.
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And although I do not know much about the property, I spoke to a neighbor while at the property who told me that the people in the family were kind and quiet. He advised that he lived in the neighborhood for many years but knew very little about the family.
According to an anonymous Facebook user, as shown below, the family was involved in ministry work, with the woman of the home making missionary dolls. Also noting that she played the organ for the Ormond Hotel in Ormond Beach, Florida.
Missionary Dolls: Some Interesting Information On The Dolls
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"Missionary dolls," or, "Missionary Rag Babies," is terminology coined by the members of the sewing circle of the Park Congregational Church who fabricated stockinette dolls from 1893-1910 for their charitable missionary fund.
The dolls were made from a soft, loosely knitted stretch fabric, known as stockinette, and had applied ears, looped yarn hair, and sewn joints.
Photos From My Visit:
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