Hundreds of sandbags piled high, plastic in place of grass, fishing lines across the yard and dozens of peanut butter jars make up the house on Fifth Avenue.Some neighbors say it’s an eye sore and could lower their property value.”We’re here in the city and we want our place to look good,” said Valerie Moore, a next-door neighbor. “That makes the whole community look horrible.”Moore says it’s also attracting unwanted attention in the Shepherdsville neighborhood.”I bet you we have five or 10 cars that stop get out and take pictures of it. I guess they’ve never seen anything like it,” she said.Jonathan Cooper, the homeowner, says the reason the home is like this is because he’s concerned about security, specifically a foreign attack.”Part of preparing is being in a state as much as possible of that condition already, so you might have noticed I’m not using my vehicle right now,” Cooper said.A bicycle is his only transportation, he shut off electricity in the home, and every entryway in the house except for one opening in the back is blocked.”Some of them seem very supportive, some of them are not, a lot of them are quizzical,” Cooper said. “Before I went this direction with everything, I actually gave a handout in the community to everyone in the neighborhood.”Some neighbors, like Moore, are also worried about the smell, and how the state of the property could affect their health. They reference the standing water and bugs.”My husband has stage three kidney failure, lung problems, and is diabetic,” she said. “We can’t even sit outside and enjoy our lives; I think it’s terrible.”Below is an aerial video of the house.Moore and others have reached out to city officials to complain, but Bullitt County officials tell us Cooper is not violating any codes right now. Yet Moore is determined to keep the issue at the forefront until it’s resolved.”They tell me I need to get a petition and have all the neighbors sign it,” Moore said. “I don’t care what it takes, but it needs to go. I mean we have been fighting this for two months.”Without electricity, Cooper says he is cooking on a propane grill in the house. He also has a stock of propane tanks to last him for two years.
Hundreds of sandbags piled high, plastic in place of grass, fishing lines across the yard and dozens of peanut butter jars make up the house on Fifth Avenue.
Some neighbors say it’s an eye sore and could lower their property value.
“We’re here in the city and we want our place to look good,” said Valerie Moore, a next-door neighbor. “That makes the whole community look horrible.”
Moore says it’s also attracting unwanted attention in the Shepherdsville neighborhood.
“I bet you we have five or 10 cars that stop get out and take pictures of it. I guess they’ve never seen anything like it,” she said.
Jonathan Cooper, the homeowner, says the reason the home is like this is because he’s concerned about security, specifically a foreign attack.
“Part of preparing is being in a state as much as possible of that condition already, so you might have noticed I’m not using my vehicle right now,” Cooper said.
A bicycle is his only transportation, he shut off electricity in the home, and every entryway in the house except for one opening in the back is blocked.
“Some of them seem very supportive, some of them are not, a lot of them are quizzical,” Cooper said. “Before I went this direction with everything, I actually gave a handout in the community to everyone in the neighborhood.”
Some neighbors, like Moore, are also worried about the smell, and how the state of the property could affect their health. They reference the standing water and bugs.
“My husband has stage three kidney failure, lung problems, and is diabetic,” she said. “We can’t even sit outside and enjoy our lives; I think it’s terrible.”
Below is an aerial video of the house.
Moore and others have reached out to city officials to complain, but Bullitt County officials tell us Cooper is not violating any codes right now. Yet Moore is determined to keep the issue at the forefront until it’s resolved.
“They tell me I need to get a petition and have all the neighbors sign it,” Moore said. “I don’t care what it takes, but it needs to go. I mean we have been fighting this for two months.”
Without electricity, Cooper says he is cooking on a propane grill in the house. He also has a stock of propane tanks to last him for two years.
