09/26/2024
EPILOGUE: The Homestead at 3218
As many of you know, my husband Mark and I were forced to shut down our menâs private resort - The Homestead at 3218 - on April 4, 2022 after almost six happy years of operation. This event took place after we had exhausted years of expensive but unsuccessful legal challenges to the bankâs fraudulent moves against us.
This local bank, which financed the majority of the resortâs development, also forced us to abandon our personal home located on the resort property on the same date. We were given until 4 PM to move all of our possessions off the property; however, we were prohibited from entering any of the resort buildings. Luckily we had two friends working with us to remove as much as possible before the deadline.
This forcible action came complete with the presence of (a) several bank officials and their Dallas attorney; (b) the area Constable and his assistant; and (c) a cadre of 5-7 Sheriffsâ deputies wearing protective bullet-proof vests and sidearms as well as toting long rifles. Perhaps the bank was expecting a Branch Davidian-style shoot out by Mark and me! At least one deputy confided to Mark that they didnât understand why they were there for a routine action they deemed totally unnecessary.
However, it is our deeply held belief that the real reason the bankâs actions which caused us financial hardships from which we could not recover was deep-seated in homophobia. One or more people with this financial institution, especially its CEO/President, decided they no longer wanted the bankâs identifiable association with that âqueer business in rural Crawfordâ.
Therefore, they worked to put us in financial default and somehow got the local and federal courts to agree with all of their legal actions. Although requested numerous times to different courts by our attorney, we were never granted a trial-by-jury hearing in order to present our documented side of the story.
So our dream operation was ended while Mark and I were summarily dispossessed of our to-be-forever home. Incidentally, The Homestead property had been in Markâs immediate family continuously since it was settled by his German immigrant relatives in the 1880s.
Now we come to the present. The bank which took the 185-acre property away from us had had it on the market for sale for over 450 days. Suddenly about two weeks ago the sale listing was withdrawn and heavy equipment arrived on the property. In the intervening two weeks, all vestiges of The Homestead at 3218 were demolished and hauled away. This destruction included the 2-story Pool House suites building, the Rec Center, the future cafe/bar building, the swimming pool and deck, the then-overgrown RV park and even our residence including its foundation and slab.
Several quite mature trees were cut down including the oldest and largest known living mulberry tree in Texas (an honorarium which got the almost 150-year-old tree written up in the local Waco newspaper, carried by the AP and then featured in The New York Times back in the early 2000s).
Today one would never know that anyone had lived on the site since being first settled in the late 19th century - much less having played host as a private safe getaway for gay and bi men from around the US and internationally.
We assume that after a mandated 30-day wait period since the Waco realty company withdrew the sale listing, itâll go back on the market as raw property. The âgay stigmaâ will have been eliminated with no visible evidence of the closed resort except for the decorative front entry gate minus the mature landscaping.
So ends our 8-year saga. Long live the happy memories of The Homestead at 3218.
Mark & Rob
PS
The 185-acre property was sold 12/30/24 to a Waco investor who plans to sub-divide the acreage into approx. 20 homesites.
(below are before photos & after demolition photos of the property taken from the road)
