Finds from the Hoarder House
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I have some vintage finds from the hoarder house Kendra is currently tearing apart to renovate.
She was having an estate sale with all that stuff on Friday. She asked me to come on Thursday morning to see if I wanted any of the things they found beneath the rubble and trash.
Old Isopropyl Alcohol Bottle:
This old glass isopropyl alcohol bottle came home with me. I don’t know when they last made these in glass. But as you can see, it was from Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the Union Carbide Chemical Co.
Frankoma Tea Pot:
I took this yellow Frankoma teapot. It’s heavy. I saw it sitting on a shelf when she first sent me photos of stuff, and I knew I wanted it.
I read that John Frank founded the Frankoma company in 1933. His intention was that the greens, browns, and golds of the pieces reflected the beauty of the prairie.
I found out that Frankoma Pottery is back in business. After closing in 2010, the company was purchased, revived, and reopened in 2022 with a new manufacturing center and retail shop in Glenpool, Oklahoma.
Rhonda’s son and wife live right down the street from it, which is outside of Tulsa. It has another owner who purchased the rights to the name.
The new owners are producing pottery using the original molds, focusing on artware and classic designs.
You can see where I put these two finds on the white bookshelves in the living room.
Old Bottles:
These bottles came home with me, too: two clear and one green. They’re in a corner of the white bookshelves. Lots of things go on my birthday bookshelves!
A Sack of Dice:
There was a sack of dice on a table. I brought them home and put them in this vintage Mason jar. By the way, I washed everything since that place was a real mess.
Tall Brown Bottle:
See that tall brown bottle up on top of the bookshelves. I saw that and knew I wanted it. I’ve never seen a brown bottle that tall before. It fit right in with all the other brown bottles.
Wooden Boxes:
I brought home these wooden boxes. Figured I could use them to store things in. They’re sitting on top of a Chewy delivery box of cat litter I haven’t opened yet.
Terra Cotta:
This terra cotta pot with a saucer on top will serve as a puddler in my garden for butterflies and bees. I’ve created them before.
A puddler is a shallow, moist saucer or designated garden area filled with sand, gravel, and compost, designed to provide butterflies with essential salts, minerals, and moisture.
They are primarily used by male butterflies to gather nutrients for reproduction and hydration, especially during hot weather. It serves as a specialized watering station.
Baskets:
I brought home these four baskets that can hang on the wall if I so choose. I’m not sure what I’ll do with these baskets yet.
Rolling Pin:
That skinny rolling pin came home to be gathered with the others. Five is a good number to have for a small collection.
So that’s it. There were antiques, but not in the best of shape. Wooden headboards, an armoire, dressers, and wooden crates (the kind reinforced with steel corners). I didn’t want to attempt to bring home anything heavy, so I didn’t really look at those things.
It’s hard to imagine how all that stuff was in one house. There were bags of baskets, a table, wood chairs.
The big dumpster is still sitting in the driveway. Kendra said they’d already filled 3 of them with trash.
The people who lived in that rather unlivable house are now in a nursing home. It’s hard to imagine someone having to leave their home in their olden years. But what I saw wasn’t really a home. It was just a big box of junk and trash.
I have no idea how people can live like that. Kendra said there was a big hole in the kitchen, which they’d already cleared out, and that a refrigerator had been on the verge of falling through it.
The Walls Were Coming Down:
While I was there, two male workers were tearing down walls to begin the renovation process. That place really should have been torn down to the ground, for the shape it was in. But she said it’s too expensive to build from the ground up right now.
This is the second hoarder house Kendra has taken on in the past month. I imagine she’s truly tired of junk right now. But sometimes this is the business of flipping houses.
She said that as soon as she bought it, the city authorities arrived shortly thereafter, asking what she was going to do with it. Can you imagine what the neighbors thought about living next door to that? Or even having that house on their block?
Condemning a House:
You’re probably wondering why this house was not condemned. Apparently, it takes a lot to formally condemn a house.
The local condemning authority will often visit the house multiple times. They will request that the property owner make necessary repairs so the house can be considered habitable.
The government has to deem the house unsafe or unfit for habitation, such as severe structural damage or health hazards like mold or infestations. Or failure to comply with building codes.
That house had mold on the walls, infestations, and so much trash that there were only a few narrow paths to walk through it.
While I was there, an older woman was sitting in a chair on her porch on the corner. The hoarder house is the second house on the block. It’s a nice neighborhood. That house is the only eyesore, just like the house across from me that is boarded up is an eyesore.
Neighbors on my street have tried to get the house across the street condemned, I’ve been told. But there’s a law that as long as there is running water, they won’t condemn it. A lack of running water, I read, creates uninhabitable, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions.
The house across from me, from what I’ve been told, has a giant hole in the middle where the floor has rotted out. The windows are boarded up, and the exterior structure is also rotting.
That seems unsafe and uninhabitable to me. At one time, homeless people were living there, but they were run off by the police.
There are actually lots of houses around here that are boarded up and unoccupied. And the people who own them won’t sell them, Kendra told me. Apparently, the owners keep the houses as a tax write-off of some kind.
Properties that are Unsafe:
But it is unsafe, and I don’t understand why the authorities won’t do something about it. I was told that the owner of the house across the street lives in California. The neighbors on my street take turns mowing the front yard, and have been doing so for years.
There is someone over there mowing it right now as I write this.
The hoarder’s house had a big hole in the kitchen that had a piece of plywood over it. Those two people living in the house let it go years ago. At least several decades ago.
There was no hot water, no heat, and no air conditioning. A shed in the backyard was also stuffed full.
The woman sitting on the porch next door to it will probably be watching the progress of that house with great interest. I would be. No telling how long the poor woman has lived next to that disaster.
I really enjoyed your insights on the treasures found in hoarder houses! As someone who’s participated in similar clean-outs, I find that often these items tell rich stories about their previous lives. Instead of just focusing on their value or use, we might consider collaborating with local artists to repurpose these finds into something new and meaningful. It gives a fresh life while honoring the past! geometry lite 2
I love your finds from the hoarder house. That would be a nightmare to live next to a house like that, bugs, rodents, etc. Not to mention the smell.
I like the little yellow teapot too. Sometimes I worry that I have hoarding tendencies, but my mess is mostly out in the garage. There’s a lot of junk and it’s hard to get around and when I’m looking for something I can’t always find it even though I know I have it. That’s pretty frustrating. But as for the inside of my house, I think it’s pretty clean and organized, so hopefully I’m not a hoarder lol. Kendra has her work cut out for her if her house is anything like those hoarding shows you see on TV.
I think the junk is all out now. They filled 5 big dumpster containers of junk.
Great haul Brenda! I love the yellow pot.
Hoarding is a mental illness. It’s actually an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. My maternal grandmother was a hoarder. It was very sad.
You got some beautiful treasures. I especially love that yellow teapot.
I figured that’s what it was.
You got some nice treasures from that mess. Sad that people live like that. Thank goodness there are people like your daughter who work so hard to make things livable. Have a good week all!
Twice I typed up comments and they both disappeared before I could send them. Grrr. It happens sometimes. Don’t know why. Shrugging shoulders
I don’t know why that happens. Sorry!
I was fascinated by your choice of books. I have read most of them myself and I love your book reviews.
I’m pretty picky about what I read. My friend Rhonda will read anything. But if it isn’t believable in some context, I won’t read it.
I love the bottles especially the Grand Rapids one because I was born there. My grandpa was a pharmacist and owned a drug store with soda fountain. He made a lot of the personal care items (creams, shampoo) as well as some medications (like aspirin) and he had his own labels. Those are long gone but I’ve dreamt of finding one of the bottles for years now. I have his mortar and pestle he used but it’s the only remaining item from the store.
Surely there’s a hoarder house in that city that, once uncovered, would have some of these items!
I can relate to this on so many levels that it can kind of made me anxious. After our mom fell in 2021 and was told it was no longer safe for her to live alone, she told my 2 brothers and me to sell her house. She and dad had lived since the mid 80s, and once dad moved into the VA full time, her buying and hoarding tendencies went into overdrive. It took 4 of us, 5 during the final 6 weeks, more than 8 months to empty it. Dumpster after dumpster after dumpster of things we just tossed, hundreds of things given away, good furniture sold for a few dollars, lots of antiques sold for almost nothing. It stressed me out so badly, I would go home after a day working there (she lived about 40 miles away) and would literally throw things away. I used to be critical of people like that too then realized it starts gradually, so gradually the person doing it probably doesn’t even realize, just knows it’s now too hard to walk to the basement or the garage. So things just pile up. Judge not lest ye be judged!
You’re right. I shouldn’t judge. I realize it’s not how they want to live. But you gave me more insight into it.
I loved seeing the Grand Rapids, Michigan jar since that’s where I live! The company that distributed that is long gone.
My husband used to collect old bottles. Some can be quite valuable. I love the way you blended your new items….especially the teapot…..into your shelving!
I knew as soon as Kendra sent me photos of stuff in there that I wanted that teapot. I had never even heard of Frankoma at that point. But I knew that the yellow teapot would balance out those two yellow ceramic plant pots already on the shelves.
I have read that hoarding is a symptom of mental illness. I have seen several episodes of that television show about hoarders and I believe it’s true. Especially people who hoard dogs and cats and can’t/don’t take proper care of them. They don’t seem to be bothered about the smells, the infestations and the filth. Somehow they believe that the animals are better off living with them in squalor.
Great finds, by the way.
I know it’s very complicated, or so I would think. Lots of people hoard stuff. And it’s hard to get that stuff out of their house, too.
Some lovely finds you have from that house…well, I have learned that it is extremely difficult to manage when someone is ill…and if both of you are ill, it can get really bad. One would hope we would not reach that hoarder stage however…I suppose some of that may come from at some time in their young lives, not having enough. My dad came thru the depression and they at times did not have basically anything to eat even…after he died, my brother had acres of stuff to get rid of, as his work and hobby was fixing cars…you can imagine!! He was working some up to the end even tho past 80…but it was a huge mess. Even tho my dad had actually been selling off stuff, he had not near reached the end of it…most do not know when they will die.
I’m one of those people who will never run out of toilet paper or paper towels. I order these things before I get anywhere near needing them, and I don’t know why I do this. Actually, I order everything before I actually need it. Must have come from somewhere.
Well, where we lived finding TP was impossible during covid. I finally found on Amazon some HUGE boxes of it like are sold to motels and got several. Heh, we still had some left by the time we moved to NC. I try not to come close to running out as of late we have not shopped for ourselves since Oct. Another thing that moving a lot causes is we must downsize some to move often. So you and I have had practice at that eh?? IF we lived still in the same house we had for most of our lives like some folks do, we might have more STUFF too!! I do not understand folks leaving garbage around…but as to gathering up things…one thing is some of us see a use for just about everything. Others may not. Or be filthy rich and able to replace whatever they throw away too…but my your daughter has taken on a lot…2 such houses at once!!