The Hensley House on Crestview Drive

The Hensley family moved to Crestview Drive in 1939 after civil engineer Robert Hensley commissioned the hillside residence following several successful highway and municipal infrastructure projects. He lived there with his wife Dorothy, their two children, and Robert’s widowed mother, who managed much of the household. The family’s income depended largely on engineering contracts awarded by local governments.

Property records described the mansion as one of the neighborhood’s most modern homes, with its curved terraces, observation tower, and spacious living areas receiving regular maintenance during its early years.

The first warning sign appeared in 1946 when two major public construction contracts were cancelled after postwar budget reductions. An unpaid county property tax notice remained pinned to the office board, while repairs to the chrome railings and roof drainage system were delayed. Robert attempted to keep the business operating with fewer employees, but rising debts and medical expenses following a serious illness exhausted the family’s savings. By 1949 the bank began foreclosure proceedings, and the Hensleys left Crestview Drive to live with relatives, taking only essential belongings before the property was legally repossessed.

The Hensley House stood vacant after foreclosure was completed in 1950. No restoration project was undertaken, no family member reclaimed the property, and ownership remained unresolved through repeated unsuccessful sales. Municipal inspection reports recorded increasing water damage, failing windows, and gradual structural deterioration, but no substantial repairs followed. Household records, abandoned furniture, and business papers remained inside for years. Today the Streamline Moderne mansion still stands above Crestview Drive, empty and steadily deteriorating, its future unresolved despite decades of quiet survival.