Cave home saved! Meet its savior!
Filed under: Home
Recently we reported that the Sleeper family of Festus, Missouri was forced to put their 17,000 square foot cave home up for sale. Today, however, we learn that thanks to the generosity of a New Jersey man, Curt Sleeper and his family have obtained a new mortgage that will allow them to stay and complete their dream home.
The 15-year loan comes from Jon Demarest, via his document and image management servicing company, Logical Source Inc. I had a chance to talk to Demarest today. He told me that he saw the story initially on Yahoo, and when he saw it again on a Sunday morning show, he was "intrigued by how it looked. I own several vacation homes, and I initially thought about buying the cave home as a summer getaway with the kids."
When he reached out to contact the Sleepers, however, he was impressed by their dedication. Jon recently lost a parent, so the thought of the family losing their dream disheartened him. Demarest says he then "asked them 'what would you like to do?' When they replied, "save our home," he decided to help them do just that, by extending them a new loan, on generous terms.
The Sleepers will reportedly leave the home on EBay while the paperwork for the loan is being processed, but should sleep soundly tonight, thanks to the generosity of a stranger from a thousand miles away.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-11-2009 @ 2:34PM
Wanda said...
I think this is wonderful that a perfect stranger has offered these people a helping hand. Wish more people could do the same. I could only pray someone would be kind enough to do this for us. There really are great people in this world especially in times like this. God Bless this stranger.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 3:37PM
Raizel said...
Maybe you should get together with some friends and create a posting either locally or on the web with dollar amounts need to help save some homes. You might be surprised how many good people there are out there ready to "adopt" or even just loan in good faith to help some of the people in need at the moment. I wish I could find a group like this. It would make me feel really good and hopefully help our economy more than all of Obama's stimulus packages could.
3-12-2009 @ 8:02AM
Rachel said...
Too bad the banks can't have a heart like this Mr. Demarest. Business has become too impersonal, it's no wonder why so many fail. God bless you Mr. D.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 3:34PM
Becky said...
Did I miss the part where they said why they were facing foreclosure? Was it from spending and not saving? Are we are supposed to feel sorry for them and their 17,000 square foot home? Im happy that an individual helped them and taxpayers didn't have to bail them out.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 6:23PM
Kris said...
It was from them having a balloon payment and the money they had to put in to make it a home. It was NOT from frivilous spending. I would so love to see this home. To see how much work they put into it just through the pictures was neat. I am so glad that someone stepped up.
3-12-2009 @ 4:02PM
Curt Sleeper said...
Please, we never asked anyone to feel sorry for us. We attacked a financial problem and resolved it. We never accepted any donations or charity. We advertised on ebay to find a private investor who would invest in our home or sell it. We have over 75% equity in our house and believe it to be a good investment. We live within our means and accept full personal responsibility and consequences of our actions.
Thanks
Curt Sleeper
CSleeper@Caveland.US
3-11-2009 @ 3:40PM
Man_in_Wilderness said...
This is good news I had been watching this in my ebay, and I saw that no one had put in a bid. So I am really happy for these folks. So I'll say thanks Jon Demarest.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 3:57PM
KC said...
Caves are famously cheap to heat, and air conditioning isn't really a factor, so the cave home is a good idea. People have been living in caves everywhere else in the world ever since caves were discovered to be prime shelter, and the Mediterranean islands and countries have any number of families living in caves while they smooth the walls and floors, expand the living area by carving out rooms and so on. Great thing to bear in mind.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 4:30PM
Edifice said...
This news makes me very happy for the Sleeper family. I was intrigued by their home. Truly enchanting!
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 4:54PM
Sharyn said...
What a beautiful gesture. THAT is what is going to recover our country- not huge deficit-inducing bailouts, but Americans help Americans. God Bless Jon Demarest and this family.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 4:56PM
Sharyn said...
I have been saved! Meet MY Saviour! His Name is Jesus and He wants to save you, too.
Reply
3-12-2009 @ 1:17PM
Pete Staff said...
People have moved out of caves. For many thousands of year.
For some very good reasons. They became civilized
A cave with little or no sun light. Dark, damp and gloomy. .Seems like a geat vaction spot. For the Adams Family.
Reply
3-12-2009 @ 2:49PM
KARIL said...
I just don't understand the need for a 17,000 square ft home.
This is just another prime example of want versus need.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 6:11PM
yogi said...
Karil, more than likely, the cave itself afforded them the chance to build that size a home. What would you have them do, only use half the space? c`mon, think just a little....
3-11-2009 @ 5:33PM
howardroark43 said...
i have a similar story with my dad: back in the 70's, when i was in my teens, my dad decided to buy a half dozen homes in a mediocre area of detroit. although my dad was a sales director, he was always a top shelf handyman and talented carpenter; he could fix anything and the end result would be of the highest quality. so, he buys these dumpy houses in detroit, and with me as his slave labor, spent a couple years fixing them up beyond their $ value. the nicest home he gave to my loser sis and her husband. he rented them all to low income people and he maintained them as if he was living in them. after several more years the property values were so low in detroit he GAVE them to the renting tenants. sure, he wrote off the losses in his taxes, but improved the lives' of half dozen po' families.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 6:05PM
Adrien said...
Karil I'm sure I can find quite a few things in your life that you don't need but have and wouldn't want to let go of ... people always tend to hate it when others have more than they do .. and the magic number for how much to have is always the same as the person talking.
Just my thoughts,
Adrien
http://www.TheNakedHippie.com
Organic Tshirts
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 6:29PM
jbjg24m said...
THE GUY THAT BOUGHT THIS CAVE HOME MUST HAVE MORE MONEY THAN HE KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH !!
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 7:34PM
FRED said...
An great and uplifting story in a painful time in this country.
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 8:44PM
Debbie Murphree said...
It's wonderful when a perfect stranger will go out of their way to do something this special for someone they have never met. God Bless America! www.debbiemurphree.com
Reply
3-11-2009 @ 8:53PM
Karil Ballata said...
Yogi> Obviously the home being a cave did not afford him to build a 17,000 sq ft home or he would not have been trying to sell on E-Bay. They did an interview on T.V. with him and he basically said that he ran out of money
Adrien> We live well within our means. Instead of buying a much larger and more impressive home(ours is 2800 sq ft) we decided that we would like to secure ourselves with a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30 year mortgage. We have 2 more years to go. Do we own a wii or a xbox? No. Do we have the latest cell phone or Blackberry?No. Do we take lavish trips? No. But we have 0 credit card debt and both our cars are paid for. We are teaching our 14 year old that if she wants to upgrade what we buy her that is fine but she must finance it herself and guess what? Well its not so easy parting with that hard earned money so maybe she really doesnt need it. I did not vote for Obama but i had to agree that the sense of entitlement in this country is out of hand and we all need to get back to the basics and live within our means..
Reply