Abandoned house sliding into creek

Frank and Elise Ryan appealing construction code official’s edict to demolish former ‘dream house’ or stabilize Alexauken Creek bank

By: Cynthia Williamson
   LAMBERTVILLE — A weather-beaten Volkswagen Beetle parked in the driveway gives a passerby the impression someone still lives at 8 Alexauken Creek Road.
   But it isn’t likely the owners, Frank and Elise Ryan, who purchased the modest stucco ranch in 1993 and once called it their "dream house," are ever coming back.
   The windows and doors have been boarded over. A sidewalk leading to the front entrance is shrouded in overgrown shrubbery and weeds that sprout up everywhere.
   It’s a culmination of five years of neglect, an odyssey that began for the couple in early 1996 when heavy rains began eating away at the walls of the Alexauken Creek behind their house situated on the outskirts of Lambertville.
   Today, the remnants of a wooden deck that once served as a gateway to the backyard and creek beyond clings to the house as a mountain climber would to the ledge of a steep slope. Less than a foot separates the northwest corner of the deck from the creek bed 30 feet below.
   Years of erosion also have exposed the northwest corner of the foundation, a situation the city’s construction official, William White, feels if "left unabated, it is reasonable to assume that the structure would fall into the creek."
   In January, Mr. White ordered the couple to either demolish the three-bedroom house situated just south of the Route 202 north ramp or "stabilize the creek bank and restore the integrity of the foundation."
   The Ryans filed an appeal with the Hunterdon County Construction Board of Appeals, which granted the couple a six-month extension in April to locate a buyer for the property or remedy the situation, according to Mr. White.
   The Ryans have not lived in the house since late 1996 when they were ordered by then-construction official Eugene Venettone to vacate the property or take steps to "render the structure safe" following a second major storm that year.
   According to papers the Ryans filed with the county board, the couple sought grants and low-interest loans to stabilize the creek bank that would have cost an estimated $500,000. They also filed claims with the National Flood Insurance Program, Home Owner Warranty, program and their homeowner’s insurance but all claims were denied.
   The Ryans did not return several telephone messages left on an answering machine at their Flemington address.
   In 1997, the Ryans filed a lawsuit naming the builder, City of Lambertville and Realtor who represented them in the $179,000 sale, claiming they would never have purchased the house if they had been informed it was built on 18 feet of "unclassified fill material" deposited there by the state Department of Transportation when Route 202 was built in the 70s.
   Claims against the city were dismissed but the Ryans reached out-of-court settlements with the Realtor, engineering firm and others for a total $53,000. The builder, Richard Collucio, declared bankruptcy, according to the Ryans. They also were able to reach a settlement with their mortgage holder for the balance due on their house.
   "In August of 1999, we were finished with our litigation but we still had the liability of the house," the Ryans wrote. "We had tried to give the house and property to any or all of the defendants in the suit but no one wanted it."
   Hurricane Floyd in 1999 also wreaked havoc on the slope, causing 8 feet of the couple’s backyard to wash away taking the part of the deck with it.
   The Ryans now are holding DOT "100 percent liable" for dumping blasted rock materials from the highway construction site onto their property. They also are blaming the state for exacerbating the problem by installing a stormwater drainage pipe on their property without taking proper steps to protect the stream bank from erosion.
   "Our most important objective is to have the proper authorities maintain this property," the Ryans wrote. "We believe we have always acted in a responsible manner in an attempt to preserve not only the property but also the public safety of all those involved."
   Based on discussions with civil and geo-technical engineers, the Ryans said they have been told their house is not in eminent danger of sliding into the creek.
   "Our house has stood for so long with such adverse conditions," the Ryans wrote, "it is very likely that it will continue to stand as it has the past 15 months without any change."