The room on the second floor in which the (alleged) illegal demolition was taking place.

Another angle, showing the 2nd floor front room and the former upper porch, now an interior room.

A quick visit to Charles Avenue confirmed the (allegedly) illegal demolition inside the historic, 120-year old E.W.F. Stirrup House has stopped. Whether that was due to my reporting them to the City of Miami Building Department, because of my weekend blog post called Open Houses and Broken Laws, or whether they just ran out of work to do, is something I don’t know.

However, I have a small clue that my post has been read by the alleged rapacious developer. There is now a lock and chain through the double-doors in the wall that separates the E.W.F. Stirrup property from the Grove Gardens Residences Condominiums mentioned in my previous post. I have never seen a chain and lock on that door before. Maybe they think that’s how I get onto the property when I visit and thought this would block my way.

That looks formidable, doesn’t it?

This is the formidable lock on the front gate. The gap is large enough to squeeze through, but I’ve never done that.

Yet locks do not prevent me from taking pictures through a chain link fence.

The workers conducting the (alleged) illegal demolition of the E.W.F. Stirrup House filled this dumpster before work stopped.

If I were in Great Britain I’d call this a skip, which is taken to the tip. In any language, it’s full.

Locks do not prevent me from taking pictures over the wall from the Regions Bank parking lot either. This angle showed me a new pile of trash that wasn’t there on Friday.

This is the parking lot of the Regions Bank. The wall is chest high and you can just see the E.W.F. Stirrup House in the background.

It’s not clear what that pile of trash is, but I’d lay money it’s non-conforming. Note the height of the grass. I’ve seen the property cited previously for a lack of upkeep on the landscaping.

Notice from the City of Miami for code violations taken by author on August 26, 2009

Close up of notice from August 26, 2009. The property is in worse condition now than it was in 2009.

Also from August 2009. The property across from the E.W.F. Stirrup House with a similar citation. This is the property currently being used to shunt cars in and out of the Coconut Grove Playhouse parking lot.

A new picture from yesterday of the same fence, with far more growth than for which the property was cited in 2009 (above). Note how it’s impeding the sidewalk.

Back to the Stirrup property and yesterday. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find this pile of trash is also non-conforming. This is next to the padlocked doors seen above.

The mailbox at the E.W.F. Stirrup House at 3242 Charles Avenue indicates the neglect as well as anything else.

Another view of the mailbox at the E.W.F. Stirrup House.

I have photographed this hole in the front of the E.W.F. Stirrup House before. This is the first time I ever saw a creature come out of it.

It’s always a good day when I see a flyer for Reggae music. This was on the sidewalk directly in from of the E.W.F. Stirrup House.