Demo Company Makes Worst Possible Mistake

JR's Demolition tore down the wrong house
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2020 10:30 AM CST

A Texas demolition company made a huge mistake Wednesday when it bulldozed the wrong house—and tore a hole in the heart of a neighborhood, the Advocate reports. JR's Demolition levelled the Dallas property without realizing the correct address was two blocks away. "All the windows were intact, there was plastic covering the hardwood floors," listed owner Robb Hagestad tells WFAA. "I can't even imagine that they wouldn't pick up a phone and check if they were at the right place. It's insane they would drive a bulldozer through it." Worse, the property held a sentimental value rooted in friendship and a promise to care for the historic 1923 craftsman home. The Dallas Morning News reports that the previous owner, Mary Ann Degataire, died of a terminal illness in 2018.

A longtime friend of hers, Jeremy Wenninger, promised he'd save the pink house and maintain the neighborhood's old-fashioned feel—so he and Hagestad went through a grueling two-year process to buy the property. As of Wednesday, a contractor was already working on the house and a new one was slated to begin. "We sort of planned to maybe move back someday, or maybe put a family member in there," says Hagestad. "And now it was destroyed, because of human error. It was literally heartbreaking." To be fair, JR's owner Bobby Lindamood is nothing if not contrite. "The house wasn't marked [with an address], and it had no power and no gas," he tells WFAA. "All I can say is I'm sorry. It's our worst mistake and we'll make it right." (Another Dallas demo didn't quite finish the job.)

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