The Ellison Family Reservoir House Abandoned After the Water Receded

The Ellison family settled at Greywater House in 1909 after Harold Ellison purchased the property to operate a small ferry service across the mountain reservoir. Harold, his wife Martha, their three children, and Harold’s elderly father occupied the house for more than two decades. Their income depended on passenger crossings, commercial fishing licenses, and supplying nearby shoreline communities by boat.

Local tax records and ferry accounts describe a stable household where the wraparound porch, mudroom, and rounded dining bay were regularly maintained while the reservoir remained busy with local trade.

The first warning came in 1928 when unusually low water levels forced the cancellation of several ferry crossings and left fishing catches sharply reduced. By 1930, Harold dismissed his lone deckhand and closed the attic room to reduce heating costs through the winter. As prolonged drought continued, the shoreline retreated farther from the dock each season, ending passenger traffic altogether. Unpaid property taxes, boat repair bills, and fuel accounts accumulated. Foreclosure proceedings followed in 1933, and the Ellisons relocated to a nearby town after selling their remaining boats and household livestock.

Greywater House was abandoned in 1934 after foreclosure concluded years of drought, lost ferry income, and mounting unpaid debts. No restoration followed, and no member of the Ellison family returned to occupy the property. County records later listed uncertain ownership but documented no successful transfer or redevelopment. Furniture, account books, and personal belongings remained inside as the exposed reservoir floor expanded around the house. The former dock now reaches only cracked clay, and the residence continues to stand empty in the dry basin, steadily deteriorating with no resolved future.