‘Christmas House’ family told to get out

Merriman says he can’t meet the new deadline

TORRINGTON — Ron Merriman and his family have less than two weeks to vacate the “Christmas House,” according to a document that was served to them on Thursday afternoon by a state marshal.

The deadline for moving out is March 4, Merriman said.

“They must be nuts, there is no way” he, his sister and mother, will be ready, he said.

The rambling, multifamily house at 285-287 Main St., was sold at a foreclosure auction in early November for just over $22,800.

Merriman said the “execution for ejectment,” a type of eviction notice, was hand-delivered by State Marshal Arthur Quinn III, of Thomaston. Quinn also served the foreclosure notice.

A few hours after receiving the notice, Merriman said he went to Superior Court in Torrington to file a request for a 30-day extension. He said he’s scheduled to appear for a hearing on Monday.

Asked how long it would take a group of people to help the family to pack their belongings, Merriman said “at least a month.”

The court notice stated that the marshal will “return and remove your belongings.”

The document noted that the family’s property would be stored in Torrington at a city-owned facility.

“If you do not reclaim it, it will be sold at an auction,” the notice said.

The fair market value of the house is $116,000, according to a court-ordered appraisal conducted in Nov. 2017. It noted that the house contains 2,802 square feet, with 10 rooms, six bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The house is filled to overflowing with Merriman’s Christmas collection of animated characters, vintage nutcrackers, snow globes and Disney figurines.

“The city has lost another landmark,” Merriman said.

The effort to force the family to leave the house has been ongoing for more than a year. In November, as the family faced an “execution for ejectment,” — a type of eviction, Superior Court Judge Dan Shaban stated in the order that no eviction would be granted prior to Jan. 1.

However, Shaban said in the order, “The defendant has had well over a year to seek alternatives to foreclosure through both the assistance of the court, and individually, but has been unsuccessful. Even with the ability to do so, he has failed to actively market the property himself. The defendant has failed to cooperate with the committee which, had he done so, might otherwise have helped secure a higher purchase price for the property.”

Leslie Hutchison / Hearst Connecticut Media Ron Merriman in front of his Main Street home, locally known as the Christmas House, where the family faces a March 4 eviction.