Oct 17, 2024
When Holly Sturgon bought her forever home eleven years ago, she never imagined she'd be dismantling the home piece by piece.
Unfortunately, she now finds herself selling everything from toilets to garage doors to the pendant lighting in her kitchen, all because of a devastating flood that revealed the house was built on an old retention pond.
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"People walking down through this neighborhood have got to look at this and just say, what in the world?... Up until a month ago, I probably cried almost every single day," she told 9News. "Going through this part of it, it tears at my heartstrings every day.”
The problem began in 2023 when a flood revealed that the land beneath four homes in the neighborhood — including Sturgon's — was originally a retention pond designed to protect the community from flooding. Builders filled in the pond and built homes on the land without notifying the buyers. After exploring all the options, the town of Johnstown has been forced to buy back the four homes, demolish them, and restore the retention ponds.
‘Lawyers told the family there was no recourse'
Initially, the family wanted to fight to keep their homes. They spoke with several lawyers, who all told them they would lose the fight. This is likely due to eminent domain laws, which allow the state government to take property for public use—in Sturgon's case, for a retention pond. Now, the family is coming to terms with leaving.
"I’m going to miss it," Sturgon said. "I look out here. I look at our neighbors. That’s the hard part."
Moving is never easy, but it's even more challenging when you have no choice and realize your home won't be welcoming a new family.
"When you sell a house, you clean it really good for the next person, and I’m purposely destroying the house. It’s pretty different," Sturgon said. "I hope nobody has to go through this because it’s not a comfortable feeling at all."
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‘The family is being forced out of Colorado by high home prices’
Sturgon said the town repurchased the homes for a reasonable price, but it's still not enough for them to stay in Colorado. Rebuying another home in the city is out of their price range, where the median home price is $514,200.
Instead, the family has decided to relocate to Georgia, where the median home price is lower and they can be closer to family. As Sturgon sells off her home piece by piece, she hopes no one else will have to experience the pain of tearing down their forever home to protect others. The lesson here is a difficult one: without careful oversight and accountability, even your dream home can be taken away.
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Chris Clark is a Kansas City–based freelance contributor for Moneywise, where he writes about the real financial choices facing everyday Americans—from saving for retirement to navigating housing and debt.
