ALPINE — An abandoned, half-finished mansion that neighbors in an exclusive Alpine community wanted to raze has apparently been saved from the wrecking ball.
The latest owner, Boydean Frazier, a contractor who lives a stone's throw from the massive house, fully intends to finish construction, landscape the grounds and make the house available to his sons.
Rodger Graham, a neighbor who tried to buy the partially built $600,000 home for $150,000 last month in a foreclosure sale, said the house ended up in Frazier's hands after the transaction became complicated by threat of a lawsuit from another bidder.
Graham went to the foreclosure sale for the home, which was held by First Security Bank, to buy the house on behalf of him and his neighbors.
Frustrated with a lack of action and unhappy with the huge eyesore that has been in their back yards for nine months, the neighbors met during the summer and agreed to collectively buy the structure so they could tear it down.
But when Graham arrived at the Nov. 9 sale with a $5,000 cashier's check in hand, he found he was supposed to have a $10,000 check. A businessman from Orem threatened suit against Graham and First Security if Graham didn't produce the exact required amount of up-front money.
Frazier was asked to make up the $5,000 difference. Graham then asked Frazier for an additional $10,000, which the businessman said he would take in exchange for not filing a suit contesting the bidding process. Such financial arrangements are not illegal.
"So now he's in $15,000 and I'm in $5,000," Graham said.
"He said, 'Let's be partners.' When I realized his intention was to finish it and move in his two sons, I couldn't be his partner." he said.
"I told him that, but since he, at that point, had invested twice the amount I had, I really had no choice but to let him take it."
Graham is unhappy and his neighbors are livid, he said.
Bonnie Parker, a longtime Alpine resident, said the restrictive covenants for the subdivision will not allow anyone to move more than one family into a home.
"I think the city made a big mistake when they gave the approval for it to be built," Parker said.
The home is a 16,000-square-foot, three-story wood and concrete structure with an indoor bowling alley, an industrial-size kitchen, racquetball courts, seven baths and six garages.
Graham said subcontractors who were not paid for their work reclaimed such items as ducts and fixtures from the house, leaving the interior gutted and dangerous to navigate.
Frazier says the unsightly exterior of the house is temporary.
He has backhoes and scaffolding on the property and major plans for creating an attractive structure the neighbors won't mind so much.
Frazier said he's moving ahead on the project, but Alpine city officials are asking for more than the usual amount of engineering paperwork because of the controversy surrounding the house.
"I don't know if everyone will ever be pleased," Frazier said. "But we'll do a good job."
Frazier, who believes a select few in the neighborhood are against his reconstruction effort, said he's been surprised to find out how well-built the house is.
Parker and another neighbor, Chris Reynolds, are planning a neighborhood meeting to discuss options.
"It's too large a home for the lot," said Reynolds. "We should turn it into a library or something."
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