‘Sausage Castle’ might fall to foreclosure, demolition
Amid the colorful pornographic artwork that covers Mike Busey’s infamous home, the Sausage Castle has been the scene of wild parties, bikini-clad machine-gunners and its own private freak show for years.
But the debauchery soon could be history.
Osceola County wants to foreclose and demolish the notorious house just outside St. Cloud, which received national attention after being featured in Vice magazine, MTV and YouTube.
The property has been
tagged with numerous code violations over the last few years, totaling more than $340,000 as of January.
Now Busey, who’s lived there for nearly a decade, wants to keep the scene going at the place he calls “a Neverland for adults.”
“People think I’m just this crazy person who loves to party,” said Busey, 35, the self-described “King of Rock ’n’ Roll Debauchery.” “I like guns, I like women, and I like having a good time. And that’s too much for them.”
The Sausage Castle is a 15-year-old house on Hickory Tree Road in a largely residential neighborhood near Alligator Lake. It’s appraised at $117,000.
The property is home to “The Mike Busey Traveling Stage Show,” which has featured dwarfs and a 500-pound man in a diaper. Over the years, MTV’s “Jackass” and “Girls Gone Wild” also have paid visits to the Sausage Castle. Busey even
installed a stripper pole in his living room.
To him, it’s all about coming together as a family.
“People think it’s nonstop strippers and midgets,” said Busey, who allows some of his friends and performers to live there. “But it’s not.”
Despite all this, Busey doesn’t actually own the property — he’s just a tenant. An entity called “IE, LLC” has owned the property since a tax sale in 2011.
Busey described the prop-
erty’s ownership as “another hairy situation” that he didn’t want to comment about. But he said he’s taken on all the responsibilities of an owner, paying for improvements and repairs.
“I’ve got no one else to help me,” he said.
It’s those improvements that have caused of some of Busey’s problems with the county.
The property was issued several violation notices in 2010 and 2013, leading to fines of up to $250 a day.
County spokesman Andrew Sullivan said Busey enclosed the garage to convert it into a living area and built a stage and a Tiki bar — all without proper building permits or inspections.
“[Another] violation is the house wasn’t built according to the approved building plans and permits applied for,” Sullivan said. “The house is actually built over lot lines and into the sovereign lake bottom of Alligator Lake.”
The county issued an affidavit of non-compliance in December. Sullivan said final foreclosure on the property could take place within 60 days.
Busey called the notice of potential foreclosure “the nail in the coffin” after years of what he called harassment by county code enforcers.
“This has been the plan from the beginning,” he said. “Stockpile fines until they’re obscene amounts no one would be able to pay.”
He took issue with the county’s claim that the house was built across several lots and the lake, saying that the county approved construction of the house years ago.
“If it wasn’t supposed to be built here, why give a permit?” he said.
Busey also criticized County Commissioner Fred Hawkins, a former neighbor, whom he blamed for many of the complaints against him.
Hawkins, who hasn’t lived in Busey’s neighborhood in three years, said he never reported Busey to code enforcement.
“I did receive many complaints from the surrounding neighbors,” he said. “Automatic weapons, loud parties. … Parties and the content of the parties, the county can’t regulate that. But when it comes to large events, you’re supposed to get a permit. With house parties of hundreds of people, there is a process — and he has not followed it.”
Personally, “I have nothing against the guy,” Hawkins said.
Busey has vowed to fight on.
“Basically I’m taking heat from people for living life a little differently, not to their liking,” he said. “They don’t want me here. … They obviously have personal issues with me and my way of life.”
His online notoriety has come in handy when it comes to raising money. A GoFundMe campaign set up five days ago had raised $4,600 as of Tuesday evening.
One eager donor was Forrest Church, who gave $80.
“Been following you since the Gathering of the Juggalos,” he wrote. “One day, I will make it to the sausage castle, and I will cook you and everyone at the sausage castle many desserts. We will laugh. We will cry. We will [have sex with] many girls. It will be a great time.”