Mystery Would-Be Mansion in Gardendale Texas
It seems I'm on a "All Things Creepy, Old, Abandoned, Historic, Haunted ect..." kick here lately...oh who am I kidding it's not a kick it's err day all day! Either way I've been spending a considerable amount of time researching and locating places like this and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. Here's the latest location from last week's "Field Trip Friday"! This seemingly abandoned would-be mansion in Gardendale tx. If you're not from the area Gardendale is in Ector County, just a skip outside of Odessa. It wasn't until I drove out to take pictures that I realized I'd already seen this place a thousand times before. I used to live on N Aster in Gardendale and this place was down the street. Anyway, I found it on a Geocaching website as I was searching the term "abandoned locations Midland Odessa Texas". http://awaywego50.blogspot.com/2016/08/west-texas-ghost-towns-cemeteries-church-memorial.html?m=0
When I lived down the street there was a little travel trailer parked outside that I assumed the owner of the property lived in. I did some more digging and it turns out the history of this house and it's original owners is pretty interesting. C.W. "Red" Pruett and his wife Catherin bought this house in 1958 or 1968 (according to the deed records I found). The Pruetts owned and operated Pruett Jewelry in Odessa which eventually became owned and operated by thier son, C.W. "Speedy" Pruett Jr. Apparently the men in the Pruett family all had really cool nicknames. "Speedy" Pruett took over the Jewelry business during which time he became an amateur pilot eventually leading into his full-time career in aviation. Tragically he died in a plane crash. According to the obituary he was pronounced dead Thursday, December 21st, 2000, after search and rescue found his downed plane near Rolla, Mo.
From what I've read the inside is a weird maze of stairways to nowhere and doors that open into solid brick walls. What!?! I have so many questions!!!!! Yeah, the family history is interesting but now I can't live the rest of my life without knowing what happened with this house or at least seeing the inside for myself. When I lived down the street I used to think I could see a light in the top section of the house but I figured it was a reflection or something but now I'm not sure. In the pictures I took Friday you can clearly see a chair in the window on the top floor.