Historic Enfield Home Razed to Make Way for New Construction

Enfield At home on the east side of Crystal Lake on Monday afternoon, Cheryl Gerding tried to ignore the crunching sound of an excavator tearing down her familys former historic house just across the water.

Im having a hard time, Gerding said, holding back tears.

The 1790s-era home, situated on Lockehaven Road in the towns oldest section, was once the venue of a store and two town meetings and was home to some of the most prominent residents of the era.

In the buildings more recent history, Gerdings parents became its twelfth owners in 1947. At the time, Gerding was 9 years old. She and her own children spent their summers in the Old House in what was once known as East Enfield when the children were young, she said.

When Gerdings mother, Helen Auger, died in 2007 and her step-father, Harry Auger, became ill, the family could no longer afford to keep the house on Crystal Lake. Gerding said taxes amounted to $7,000 annually.

They sold the .74-acre waterfront lot and 1,300-square-foot home to Joseph Roberts, of Grafton, in 2012 for $260,000, according to Enfield assessing records. The lakeside property is appraised at $349,200, but the house was valued at just $79,000.

Roberts did not respond to a reporters requests for comment.

Gerdings daughter, Kathy Decato, admitted the house did need a lot of work, but she said that she had held out hope that the new owner would refurbish it.

It was my grandparents house, she said. It just kind of breaks my heart.

Gerding said her brother compared the demolition to a death in the family.

Read more:
Historic Enfield Home Razed to Make Way for New Construction