Romney family home demolished

DETROIT, June 9 (UPI) -- Bulldozers razed the historic but dilapidated Detroit childhood home of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney because it was an eyesore, neighbors say.

The 5,500-square-foot two-story home had sat for three years boarded up and under a tarp with residents begging the city to remove it from the Palmer Woods neighborhood, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.

"This demolition can be described as a sad victory for us," said Rochelle Lento, co-chairwoman of the Palmer Woods Association's vacant home committee. "It's never the intent or goal to see a historic house demolished -- we want to preserve the neighborhood -- but this house was plagued with problems."

The house sold for $645,000 in 2001 but as the economy worsened, several owners came and went, and in 2007 the structure sold for $150,000 with the owner never finishing renovations, the Free Press said.

Declaring the home a nuisance, Wayne County went to court in 2009 and seized the house from its owners, issuing a demolition permit in March.

Romney's family lived in the home from 1941-1953, the newspaper said.

Mitt Romney's father, George Romney, was elected governor of Michigan 1962, serving three terms.