The Porter Family House Stood Empty After the Insurance Collapse

The Porter family moved into Hawthorn House in the suburb of Brookfield in 1908 after Samuel Porter became a partner in a regional mutual insurance company. Samuel, his wife Helen, their two daughters, and Samuel’s widowed mother occupied the home, while Helen managed household finances and a productive vegetable garden. Company dividends and Samuel’s commissions comfortably supported the family for many years.

Municipal directories recorded regular improvements to the house, including repairs to the wraparound porch and the addition of the rounded corner room, making the property one of the best-kept homes on the block.

The first warning came in 1929 when Samuel’s insurance company entered receivership after investment losses during the market crash. His commissions disappeared almost immediately, and an overdue mortgage notice arrived that autumn. The family dismissed their part-time housekeeper, closed the attic bedrooms to reduce heating costs, and postponed repairs to leaking roof shingles and cracked porch flooring. Savings were exhausted paying property taxes and medical expenses for Samuel’s mother. After foreclosure proceedings concluded in 1933, the Porters left Brookfield to live with relatives in another county, taking only essential belongings.

Hawthorn House was abandoned in 1934 following foreclosure brought about by the insurance company’s collapse, unpaid mortgage debt, and years of deferred maintenance. No restoration was undertaken, and no member of the Porter family returned to reclaim the property. Local assessment records later listed the ownership as unresolved after several unsuccessful sales attempts. Furniture, financial papers, and household possessions remained inside as weather slowly entered through damaged windows and roofing. The house still stands vacant on its suburban street, gradually deteriorating with no confirmed plans for repair or occupation.