Chris Stebbins always saw the potential of the location.
He bought the house at 651 W. 23rd Ave., just west of Jefferson Alley, in July 2011, according to the real estate site Redfin. The two-bedroom, one-bath, 780-square-foot house was built in 1940 and sold for $180,000. Oh, and it was orange.
The house appealed to him because it bordered Madison Meadow, a two-acre undeveloped parcel of grass and trees that neighbors had banded together to preserve in the early 2000s. It’s a popular spot for people and dogs alike, and the meadow’s website says that “generations of neighborhood children have played among grasses and wildflowers, madrone, filbert, apple, pear and cherry trees.”
Stebbins, a designer and builder, never lived in the house. He rented it, always thinking that when the time was right, he’d tear it down and build a newer, nicer version…