The family remembers the good times of the Athena home that burned down Tuesday

ATHENS, Ala. (WAFF) – For decades, an Athens man and his family lived in a house near Hwy. 72. The same house was burnt on Tuesday night.

Only the foundation and bricks of the house remain, but Jack Reed and his son, Will Reed, say the house served as a recreational getaway for family to visit each other. They shared stories of breakfast with their cousins ​​and playing basketball at home.

That was until Will Reed’s grandfather and homeowner Bill Nelson passed away in 2014. The family sold the property to First Metro Bank. As far as the family knows, no one has lived there since.

The two men still feel a strong connection to this place. Will said he will always remember the house fondly, but Jack won’t forget the last time he saw it before it burned down.

“We had a little basketball hoop out there next to the porch, and we’d sit there and shoot some nephro basketball and try to play horse,” Will said.

“It was all very sad to see,” said Jack. “The windows were broken and I walked around the house to find a clothes line with tattered clothes. it was growing and it was scary. It used to be so clean and pastoral. I left the city and got into my car and left. I was sad. It was a happy place, a very happy place.”

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