Historic Concord Home Demolished To Make Way For Subdivision, Neighbors Stunned

CONCORD (KPIX 5) -- Residents who lived near a historic Concord home are upset after it was demolished Monday morning, despite their appeals. A subdivision of nearly a dozen homes will soon be built on the site.

"It feels like we're losing a bit of history," said 91-year-old Wayne Stribley. He watched as the familiar house across the street was ripped to shreds.

For nearly 100 years, the home belonged to Earl Humphrey, a walnut grower for whom a nearby intersection is named. But after Mr. Humphrey and his wife died, the family decided to sell the property to a developer.

"I'm sad. This is the saddest day of my 50 years of living here," Stribley told KPIX 5.

The neighbors appealed to the city to preserve the house or at least salvage some of the unique architectural features inside.

"And we've just hit brick wall after brick wall trying to make it happen," said neighbor Gail Lund.

The development company, owned by Seeno Homes, moved in quickly Monday morning to tear the old house down. And now they plan to squeeze eleven 4,000 square foot homes on the 2 ½ acre site.

"As soon as we saw that Seeno had bought it, we knew this was going to be the end result," said neighbor Julie Churchill. "Huge houses on little lots and the loss of a beautiful historic home."

Plans to tear down the home were approved back in 2009, but the housing slowdown put the project on hold. Despite the delay, the city decided the demolition permit was still valid.

The historic home is now history. But the neighbors are looking to the future, hoping they can convince the city to reconsider the idea of jamming so many mansions into such a small space.

"It's not that we resist change…we just want change to fit the neighborhood," Churchill said.