Category Archives: THAT House

Log, THAT House

THAT House Pt. 1A

Leave a comment

I have a confession….

For context, you’re gonna need to read my post THAT House Pt. 1.

But for those who don’t want to read the whole thing (i.e. TL:DR): There’s a house in Indiana that was a bit of a legend in my middle and high schools. The Pimp/Dolphin/Naked House (hereafter to be referred to as the Pimp House cause that sounds better).

Anybut, on to my confession:

I really want to buy the Pimp House. If I had the means and the money and the time to go back to Indiana to fix it up…I would TOTALLY buy that house.

I mean, just for the legend of it alone (the legend, mind you, of a few generations of pre-teens and teens), to own that house would be such a….I don’t know…self-fulfilling prophecy? Nah, just wicked awesome.

I’d make sure to continue the tradition of the unknown legend of the house….by blocking all the windows with blackout curtains.

Stupid confession, I know. But I can’t help it! Maybe someday I can make it a reality…or someone will buy it long before I get a chance….oh well.

Log, THAT House

THAT House Pt. 4

Leave a comment

Okay, I’m cheating on this one…

This isn’t really a house that was  in our neighborhood. I’m going to be talking about my late grandmother’s house.

I loved my grandmother. I loved visiting her in Kansas. But she was a bit of a hoarder…and by a bit I mean a lot.

Anybut, this could be a series of its own, but we’ll see.

Whenever my family would visit my grandmother’s house, I always stayed in the room across from the Cat Room (not what you’re thinking)…the Doll Room.

Now, you’re probably imagining a lot of dolls…well, triple that….no, quadruple that number and that’s what the room looked like.

To be fair, she did have a wall of built in shelves where most of the dolls sat, but there were many hanging around the room. On the bed, on the dresser, on the toy chest (which ironically was used for clothes, not more dolls), and sitting in the corners of the room (sometimes on a rocking chair).

Not only was this doll room filled with dolls, but there was a window by the bed where a single lamp post shone light in all night. A ray of lamp post light, filling the room with that lovely orangey, yellow glow….with THOUSANDS of doll eyes watching me sleep.

I loved my grandmother….but I was not a fan of the Doll Room.

Log, THAT House

THAT House Pt. 3

Leave a comment

You ever have that house in your neighborhood known as the house to avoid.

For one reason or another, your parents or the local kids tell you to stay away from the house. The second neighborhood my family moved to in Indiana that house was down the road from our house in a cul-de-sac.

Why were we told to avoid it? Multiple reasons/rumors. The people who lived there were drug dealers. The parents were always gone and their kids would sooner beat the crap out of you than look at you. Those same kids were the ones who would drive up and down the road, driving their car into mailboxes or tearing up lawns just for shits and giggles.

To be honest, though…I never saw the people who lived in that house. I never saw the kids do anything. I saw the damage the next day, but never actually saw them in the act.

Anybut, I’m sure there are other reasons people tell you to stay away from THAT house in your neighborhood. But how much of it is true?

Log, THAT House

THAT House Pt. 2

Leave a comment

Another house story.

The first neighborhood from Indiana I lived in was a nice street with a few cul-de-sacs branching off. Down one you drove past there was:

The Library House.

We called it that for two reasons: 1) it was a large house and 2) it looked like one of our local libraries.

I always imagined the people who lived in it would sit in a private library in their drinking robes, shooting back some old-fashions or smoking cuban cigars….I didn’t have a unique imagination outside of movies and books back then.

Spoiler alert: the people who lived there were nothing like that, but every Halloween they always gave out the best candy and even juice boxes so kids wouldn’t get dehydrated running around.

And they did some of the best decorations, too.

Not much else to say only because I feel like a nice, easy story was better following the Pimp House. Missed it? Read ALL about it here.

Log, THAT House

THAT House Pt. 1

Leave a comment

Is it an unwritten rule that every neighborhood has to have THAT house?

The enigma house. The house everyone has a nickname for or the house with a crazy urban legend story that really isn’t that crazy, but then there’s the house where the urban legend turns out to be true.

I live in California now, but I also lived in two different neighborhoods in Indiana. Everywhere I’ve lived there have been THAT house(s?). I can’t cover all of them in one post so this will become a series. Between other posts of course.

But which house to start with? There are so many options…

…I know what house to start with.

And it’s kind of cheating because I didn’t live in the neighborhood of this house, but EVERYONE at my school knew about this house.

It had three different names, depending on how old or innocent you were. The first name was the ugly house. Not very descriptive, but if a kid in your class asked about the ugly house you knew exactly what house they were talking about. (I personally called it the dolphin house, which I will explain later).

Its second name? The pimp house.

…………………

Have you let that name roll around in your brain? Good. What would you imagine a house middle school to high school aged children called the pimp house (or ugly house) looked like?

Well, you’re wrong….unless you’re from Indiana….then you know EXACTLY what the house I’m talking about looks like.

And it’s not a joke. The guy who owned the house was a pimp (at one time, then he got into “construction” uh-huh sure)! Don’t believe me? Here’s the Daily Mail (yes, even ENGLAND knew about the pimp house or “mansion” as they call it) talking about it! But for a more detailed (and more photographic) article about the house click here. (This will take you to an IndyStar article)

I could go into its history but I could never do it justice like the articles above.

Wait, you said there were three names. What’s the third one?

……the naked house. Yes, us innocent children called it, a PIMP house, the naked house. For those of you not connecting the dots…first off, congratulations on your innocence (I lost that long ago…not because of the pimp house). The story (because of course no one knew who actually saw this happen so it became a story) is that you could see naked women walking through the house all the time.

For reference here is a photo of the house (this was all we ever saw of the infamous building):

1386618562016-Hostetler1-15-

And now you see why I called it the dolphin house. That fountain has a number of dolphins on it. Oh, and also how easy it would’ve been for anyone to see a naked woman walking past those huge windows. ANYBUT!

This house became legendary to my middle and high schools which were both located only a measly (and I shit you not!) 6 MINUTES AWAY!!

This house was 3 miles from middle school and high school students and it was legen…wait for it….DARY!!!

 

 

P.S. – I know this house had its social media moment back in 2017 and it thrilled me. This secret that was a tall tale among me and my peers finally got the attention it deserved. HOWEVER! There is nothing like being part of the generation (before social media) who passed on the stories of the ugly, naked, (dolphin) pimp house.

P.P.S – It’s still for sale if anyone’s interested. And it’s been lowered from $1.7 million to just under $1 million. A real steal.

P.P.P.S – there was also a period of time when everyone thought the owner of the house was a drug lord or mafia boss because nothing exciting ever happens in Indiana…at least, not back then. It was actually a little disappointing when we finally learned for a fact it was a former pimp who lived there…but only a little.