America’s worst neighbor revealed in nauseating photos that will strike fear into the heart of suburbia
He’s racked up a staggering $5.5million in county fines for a ‘junkyard’ home that one exasperated neighbor tells the Daily Mail ‘should be burned to the ground’.
But defiant Alan Davis, who served nearly five years behind bars for what he claims is his stand against authority, shows no sign of backing down in his quest to keep finessing an epic eyesore in the midst of a quiet middle class Florida street.
What was originally a neat four-bedroom home surrounded by many others with pools and trim yards is now entirely buried by haphazard wooden constructions that resemble a ramshackle giant tree house built without any notion of planning. Or it appears, any notion of anything.
Adorning the site are at least 18 dumped cars, as revealed in astonishing Daily Mail photos and overhead video footage.
Six of them are brazenly displayed out front amid piles of discarded appliances, plastic boxes, random mechanical junk and assorted festering detritus. And even the cars are filled with trash.
Previously there have been parts of a replica airplane and a statue of a pair of human buttocks – a direct ‘kiss my a**’ message to authorities.
Truly, this is a man vying for the title of America’s Worst Neighbor. And he shows no signs of abating.
Folk living near the 69-year-old and his wife Aileen in Altamonte Springs, just north of Orlando, remain outraged over the saga now spanning an astonishing 25 years. At least one nearby homeowner believes his property value is being hit by 20 percent.
Florida hoarder Alan Davis, 69, has racked up years in jail, $5million in fines and unhappy neighbors, but that’s not stopping him from building his trash oasis in the name of ‘freedom’
Davis lives in this home with his wife Aileen in Altamonte Springs, just north of Orlando. For over 25 years of Seminole County’s battle to remove the trash, the once quaint four-bedroom home has been buried by haphazard wooden constructions
Davis told the Daily Mail that once he’s behind his property line, ‘He’s God’. He also described multiple altercations with police such as one incident where he threatened to grab his gun if they came onto his property… he was subsequently arrested
Davis’s message to them this week?
‘If they don’t like what they see they can go screw themselves. I don’t care how they feel. That’s the whole point. I don’t care,’ he said.
‘This is what freedom looks like. Nobody, not neighbors, the authorities, the government, can tell me what to do on my property.’
Pointing to the ground outside at the front of the home, he continued: ‘What I do behind that property line is my business. I’m God.’
Ramming home his point, he continued: ‘I’ve had 25 Seminole county deputy sheriffs standing right here, all with their guns. And I stood right inside the property line right over there.
‘And I said, gentlemen, let me explain something to you. I am not the least bit intimidated by you. I said inside the property line I’m God. And those little pea shooters you carry, you can run but you can’t hide from a 12 gauge.
‘Now I’m gonna walk inside that house, I’m gonna grab my 12 gauge and I’m gonna stand out here. And if one of you sons of b****** step foot on my property I’m gonna blow you away. No ifs, ands or buts about it.’
When asked how that eventually played out, he replied: ‘Well, they ended up sending me to prison.’
Neighbors warned our reporter to be careful of the large piles of debris has giant rats, snakes and raccoons have made themselves at home. Piles of discarded appliances, plastic boxes and random mechanical junk make up the large mounds
A photo of his home in 2010 which resembles a normal single story family house after authorities cleared the piles of trash
Davis called his piles of debris a ‘political protest’ against county officials who were violating his fourth amendment right
The house resembles a haphazard tree house as Davis works on all the projects himself, whether or not they’re up to code doesn’t concern the man
Davis was first incarcerated in 2004 after his first efforts to decorate his yard with junk landed him with a one-year sentence for violating Florida litter laws.
After he got out, he went straight back to his ‘political protest’ against Seminole County officials, claiming he was protected by the Fourth Amendment.
For him, that meant more junk.
Within months he was given another three years in state prison for repeatedly violating the terms of his supervised release by continuing to festoon the front of the home with cars, abandoned equipment and other debris.
The junk was cleared. And images of his cleaned-up house in 2010 show something resembling the normal single story family home he bought with his wife in 1987, when it had a pool just like homes at the rear of the property.
Yet on release, the defiant mega-hoarder kept amassing even more, leading authorities in 2015 to clear an astonishing 35 tons of it.
Undeterred, Davis kept on piling it up until two years later when he was given another 12 months in county jail for a violating probation over a felony littering charge.
Far from being cowed, his determination to taunt the authorities – with the resulting frustration of neighbors – has accelerated since his most recent release.
Adorning the site are at least 18 dumped cars, including Volvos, Toyotas and Fords with trash piled high inside of them
The first time he went to jail was in 2004 for a year after violating Florida’s littering laws, then for three years for violating his parole terms and then another year for parole again
Each time Davis went to jail, authorities cleaned up the property – at one point, in 2015, they cleared an astonishing 35 tons- but each time Davis would build it back up again
Now it is impossible to see any signs of the original 2,000 sq ft structure the couple bought for $93,000 as Davis continually adds random structures to envelop it even further, including covering the ‘pool area’.
Out back are the remaining wrecked cars, which include Toyotas, Fords and Volvos. Incredibly, most of those in the front still have air in the tires.
As we discovered, trying to fight your way to the front door involves negotiating a twisted covered maze of appliances, boxes, scrap metal, bikes, abandoned furniture and vegetation deep inside the overall structure.
There’s also the wildlife.
As neighbor David Radosevich warned when we said we were trying to speak with Davis: ‘Be very careful, there’s large rats, snakes and raccoons living in all that junk.’
There was no answer at the door, where the bell is at least illuminated.
Davis turned up around 10pm from his job as a truck mechanic and welder, instantly regaling us with the defense of his protest, the years incarcerated clearly leaving his enthusiasm for outrage undimmed.
This includes constructing a new ‘kiss my a**’ statue for which he has personally modeled. It will adorn the house and also be placed in his pickup truck for a mobile expression of his stand against… just about everybody.
Davis’s frustrated neighbors have called the county to complain about the trash. Some even say they believe their property value has gone down by at least 20 percent
It is impossible to see any signs of the original 2,000 square-feet structure the couple bought for $93,000 as Davis continually adds random structures to envelop it even further
Davis told the Daily Mail that he doesn’t care what his neighbors think and plans to make a custom-made statue of a buttocks as a message to authorities to ‘kiss his a**’
For Davis isn’t so much a rebel without a cause. He’s more a rebel with too many causes.
As we talked, he slammed the judges for sending him to jail, ridiculed public defenders, said he had threatened legal action against another official and proudly proclaimed he had no driver’s license, claiming a legal loophole.
‘You have to take it to the extreme. That’s the only way it works,’ he said.
Of the county enforcement for the property, Davis claims to have ground down officials. ‘They don’t even come by here anymore with their little violation notices. Nobody from the county is going on to my property for any reason.
‘Nobody from the government can do the same. If they do, I will charge them with criminal trespass.
‘We’re taught when we’re kids that all men are created equal. So how did the government get authority to tell me what to do? How is a judge or a cop my superior?’
Of the current gigantic fine, increasing with penalties every day, he said: ‘I couldn’t care less. I’m not paying because I don’t consider it applies to me.’
Davis’s battle with authority began in the 1980s in neighboring Orange County when he faced objections to rebuilding an airplane under a carport at the couple’s then home.
His neighbor Liz Mardula, 41, who’s a nurse, said she’s gotten at least 20 nails in her tires from the debris that’s even reached the street and that the house ‘needs to be burned to the ground’ (PICTURED: Mardula and her daughter Harper)
When Davis talked to the Daily Mail, his beliefs stretched to slamming the judges who sent him to jail, criticizing the public defenders and proudly proclaiming he has no driver’s license
He admitted he had an obsession with collecting things and described himself as ‘a creative type’
Ruefully though he does admit of his obsessions: ‘I have too much stuff, I do. I just collect stuff. And the problem is I’m a creative type, so this is what you get.’
He says he’s ‘rebuilding everything we have in the house myself, so there is no permits needed’. And one day he might tear down the monstrosity that is covering the place, which he claims is for ‘storage’. Although he can’t promise.
The last sentiment is little comfort to some neighbors enduring the various incarnations of his junk protest.
Nurse Liz Mardula, 41 put it bluntly: ‘The house needs to be burned to the ground. I have called the county time and time again and they don’t do anything about it anymore. So, I’ve given up.
‘When we moved here nearly eight years ago it didn’t look as bad as now. There were some tarps over the roof, but we put that down to the 2017 hurricane.’
The mom of three, whose home with husband Martin is across the road from Davis’s property, continued: ‘I don’t know how to explain what I see every day. The word eyesore just isn’t enough.
‘It’s like every day there’s more and more stuff being added, piled and piled and piled on. And those cars, where do they come from? Who knows?
‘I try not to drive past the place now because in the past year, I’m not exaggerating, I’ve had about 20 nails in my tires from debris on the road outside.’
The trash fortress has survived three hurricanes and doesn’t appear to be coming down anytime soon as Davis has been spotted at night with a headlamp continuing with construction
The county has seemingly given up on holding Davis accountable, according to neighbors who said they’ve spoken to police who told them nothing can be done
Radosevich, 61, who warned about animals, has campaigned against Davis for years but now admits he’s given up.
‘I worked with a prosecuting attorney to have the place cleaned up. And it was cleaned up. Then it came back. Now nobody seems to care anymore.
‘You stop the police driving by, or speak to code enforcement, and they say, “we can’t do anything about it”. That’s a lie. It’s just lazy. I feel like I can’t even talk about it anymore. I believe it could hit the value of my home by 10 to 20 percent if I wanted to sell.’
Fellow neighbor Randell Cochran told the Daily Mail: ‘We’re just hoping the place will blow away one day. But somehow, it’s survived three hurricanes.
‘We don’t see him much, but when we do, he seems to be working on the place at night, with a little headlamp on… middle of the night.’
The 61-year-old engineer said a family in one house directly opposite Davis’s moved because of the constant construction. ‘Their son’s bedroom faced it and he told them he couldn’t stand it anymore, so they sold up,’ he said. The property remains empty.
Army veteran Carlos Rodriguez, 59, whose house is at least four homes away on the same side of the street, offered a more sympathetic perspective.
After saying ‘the guy works like an ant at night’, he added: ‘But he’s got the American spirit… he’s definitely p***** at somebody.’
