The Norwood Family Valley House Abandoned After Hydroelectric Diversion

The Norwood family settled at Frostfall House in 1908 after Edward Norwood inherited grazing rights and accepted a position maintaining a mountain water channel that supplied nearby mills. Three generations shared the home, including Edward, his wife Sarah, their two children, and Edward’s widowed mother, who managed the household. Income came from livestock, water management contracts, and seasonal transport through the valley.

The exterior staircase leading toward the cliff doorway provided access to inspection passages beside the waterfall, and county records described the property as carefully maintained during its first two decades.

The first warning appeared in 1928 when Edward received notice that a new hydroelectric diversion would replace the old mountain water channel. His maintenance contract ended, and several nearby mills closed within two years. The family dismissed their hired farmhand, left the upper balcony unused, and closed the glass porch to reduce heating costs through the long winters. Unpaid property taxes and livestock feed accounts accumulated as grazing income declined. By 1933, creditors began foreclosure proceedings, and the Norwoods relocated to a larger town where Edward found work maintaining municipal water systems.

Frostfall House was abandoned in 1934 after foreclosure followed the loss of the family’s water management income and mounting unpaid debts. No restoration ever took place, and no member of the Norwood family returned to reclaim the property. County files recorded uncertain ownership after the foreclosure sale attracted no permanent buyer, leaving responsibility for maintenance unresolved. Furniture, household papers, and personal belongings remained inside as harsh winters steadily weakened the structure. Today the house still stands beside the frozen waterfall, empty and slowly deteriorating with no confirmed plans for restoration.