DALLAS - The house next to the home where former President George W. Bush and wife Laura live is no longer there.
Neighbors in the North Dallas cul-de-sac where the Bushes moved in early last year knew they were in for changes, and there's been another - one less house on the street.
Many have been wondering what would happen to the house next door ever since the Bushes moved into their home on Daria Place. Now, that question has been answered.
The home was knocked down for extra room, according to the company that did the demolition.
"Right now, it's just going to stay vacant from what I understand," said George Gomez, one of the owners of Billy Nabors Wrecking. "They just wanted to expand their yard, get a little more yard."
In a rare aerial look at the Bush properties, it is obvious they could get more than a little yard. The lot is one-and-a-quarter acres and valued on the tax rolls at $1.1 million.
When the house still stood it was valued at $500,000. Speculation was secret service agents would stay there. The Bushes bought both houses through their Midland accountant, who runs a private trust for them.
A Bush spokesman said the former president and first lady had no comment regarding why they tore down the second house.
Regardless, prominent Dallas real estate agent Allie Beth Allman pulled the demolition permit from the city in October and hired Billy Nabors Wrecking.
By early November, the house was gone and the lot smoothed over with 20 dump truck loads of soil for a landscaper to plant sod.
There was some oversight by Mrs. Bush, Gomez said.
"She would come out and just look over," he said. "She wouldn't approach anybody, of course, but she would come out and look over it and kind of pass the word through what they wanted."
The city said no permits have been applied for or granted to build on the property.
E-mail bwatson@wfaa.com
