By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A dilapidated house at 404 W. Santa Fe St. in Marion, without a front door and with dangling fascia, has a camper in the front yard and a tent east of the house.

It’s difficult to tell where the residents, Shannon Allen and Twila Legg, are living.

According to county appraiser’s records, the value of the house was set last year at $1,470. That’s a $3,760 drop from its previous appraisal six years ago, when the house appraised at $5,230.

Appraiser’s records show the property belongs to Bobby Smith and Amber Smith, 616 S. Cedar St.

Photos on the appraiser’s site taken in 2016 show the property as a single-wide mobile home with a door on the south side and an addition to the west side.

Photos taken in 2022 don’t reveal whether the door on the south side still exists because of small trees grown up around and against the house.

As of this week, the south side of the mobile home where the door once was is covered over with a blue tarp.

On Monday, city administrator Brogan Jones said he knew nothing of the condition of the property and would have to speak with city code administrator James Masters.

The two went to look at the property Monday, and Masters took photos.

Jones said he thought the tent was a car port and that the couple were living in the mobile home, not in the tent or camper.

He declined to speculate whether the property meets city code.

Masters was reviewing the photos to “see if it is what we think it is,” Jones said.