The Landslide House

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mandrake
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The Landslide House

Post by mandrake » February 20th, 2012, 10:43 pm

Other folks likely know more of the history than I, but back in the day a tremendous landslide occurred on the Oregon side of the Gorge which came down and even crossed I-84. One residence in particular was caught in the slide and became known as the "Landslide House." Reportedly for a time it was a bit of a tourist attraction. The house is still there today, half-buried in debris, and is visible from the highway - located south of I-84, just east of exit 35 (Ainsworth). It is set back a short distance from Frontage Rd and appears to be on private property - located in a stand of new growth which is rapidly growing up through the area. Here's a couple of before & after photos I tracked down:
Attachments
HouseBefore.JPG
HouseAfter.JPG
Last edited by mandrake on February 21st, 2012, 4:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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littlemockie
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by littlemockie » February 20th, 2012, 11:04 pm

Very cool! My grandparents would always point that house out whenever they would take me hiking in the gorge. I always look for it when I drive through now. I would love to talk to the owners of the property to see if I could look at it up close.
Thanks for posting!

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Eric Peterson
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by Eric Peterson » February 21st, 2012, 6:18 am

Didn't this just happen back in the mid 90's?

Seemed like I remember reading about it in the O at the time but don't remember if anyone got hurt
or any other particulars. And is the same slide or storm that took out the section of the 400
from Dodson over to the Nesmith Pt. trail?

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Dustin DuBois
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by Dustin DuBois » February 21st, 2012, 9:20 am

A Website wrote:Around noon on February 8th [1996], a 2,000 feet vertical cliff gave way. The earth shook as the huge wall of mud, water, rocks and trees roared down toward Carol & Hersh Royse’s farmhouse on the frontage road along Highway 84. They ran out the front yard, crawled through the board fence and down through the field to the frontage road.

The slide engulfed the farmhouse, filling the basement and first floor with water, mud and rocks up to the kitchen counter tops and tore out the living room on the west side. It pushed their earth stove about 100 feet out in front of the house. Four to 15 feet of mud, boulders and trees completely covered their property down to the Frontage Road.
Also..
A Website wrote:...if you talk to Carol at the white house at 60404 NE Frontage Road, she might allow you to walk closer to the ruined farmhouse.
This is known as the "Dodson Landslide" for searching purposes.

@EP: If not the same exact mud-flow that took out the house, it was definitely the same string of landslides that started the day before this house was taken out.

This was the same time as the 1996 floods.
Hi!

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Don Nelsen
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by Don Nelsen » February 21st, 2012, 11:45 am

Eric Peterson wrote:Didn't this just happen back in the mid 90's?

Seemed like I remember reading about it in the O at the time but don't remember if anyone got hurt
or any other particulars. And is the same slide or storm that took out the section of the 400
from Dodson over to the Nesmith Pt. trail?
The slide happened in Feb. of '96 and yes, that's the one that took out the section of 400. The slide crossed the freeway, pushed the jersey barriers over like they were styrofoam, continued down the bank and pushed a freight train off the tracks. I spoke to some residents living along the street to the east of the house right after it and they told me they were terrified when it happened: It was in the middle of the night, the power went off, they said it sounded like a freight train next to their house as the boulders rolled through the forest crushing everything. I did not speak to the Royce family (whose house is the one buried) but they seem to have made it out in time.

dn
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Eric Peterson
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by Eric Peterson » February 21st, 2012, 11:55 am

I knew Don would knew, probably all of the top of his head too :) Sir you're like a hard drive that's hooked up to a human body!

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Waffle Stomper
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by Waffle Stomper » February 21st, 2012, 7:22 pm

If I remember correctly I read about another landslide there many years prior and that there were remains shards of dishware scattered on the property, but I don't know if this is in the exact same spot or very close. I remember that the occupants left safely but needed to protect their property for awhile from looters :(
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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Waffle Stomper
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by Waffle Stomper » February 21st, 2012, 7:24 pm

Couldn't help looking into this further.
This is interesting. http://geomechanics.geol.pdx.edu/Projec ... index.html
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

justpeachy
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by justpeachy » February 21st, 2012, 9:28 pm

Thanks for posting that link, Waffle Stomper. I remembered seeing that page before and was going to go looking for it so I could post it here but you saved me the trouble. :D
I saw a huge wall of mud, water, rocks and trees coming right at us. It was already half way down the back field. I said "We’ve got to get out of here!!" Hersh said "Wait a minute" and went to see of himself. When he saw what I was talking about he said "Let's get the hell out of here!!"
Halfway I turned to see the garage and small motor home shed go down like a cracker box. It was engulfing the house.
That must have been utterly terrifying! It's still amazing to think how much damage was done all over the Pacific Northwest in February 1996. The ramifications were long-lasting.

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kepPNW
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Re: The Landslide House

Post by kepPNW » July 24th, 2012, 5:49 am

I thought I remembered news reports of a horse being stuck in mud inside the barn, and its subsequent rescue? But I couldn't find reference to that.

Did find some more photos of the damage, up-close...
http://voices.yahoo.com/photos/the-grea ... tml?cat=37
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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