It was over three years ago that we first brought 1601 Mount Vernon St., the "Purvis House," to your attention, lamenting the poor condition of this historic structure. In case you don't remember and don't feel like clicking back to the old story, the building was constructed in 1859 and was once home to Robert Purvis, a man considered to be the "President of the Underground Railroad." It's likely that Purvis helped thousands of former slaves achieve freedom. Today, what's left of his former home remains in bad shape.
Miguel Santiago bought the property in 1977 and still owns it today. Several times, he's proposed redeveloping the property, most recently coming up with a plan to develop three condo units plus parking. In November of 2012, the rear of the property came down, either intentionally or because years of vacancy caused part of the building to crumble. In the years since, the rubble has been cleared and a hole in the ground has been filled, but no other work has taken place from what we can tell. Earlier this year, the owner altered a permit from 2011 to replace the eastern wall of the building with salvaged brick. But it doesn't look like that has happened as of yet, nor would we swear that it will ever happen.
We aren't hearing anything about an impending renovation, but perhaps someone who lives nearby has heard some news of late? If much more time passes, we fear that what's left of this historic building will meet the same fate as the rest of it. If the owners can't get it together to get this building restored, we can only hope that they're willing to sell the property to somebody who can. But if it's three more years until we check back here, we imagine we'll be reporting on a vacant lot, not a blighted building.