A problematic neighbor situation involving the cabin my wife and I own south of Warren on the Allegheny River has ended, at least for now, to the satisfaction of both of us. But the fact that we feared a real problem shows how property owners can find themselves in irksome situations as a result of actions by neighbors.

Even as the situation on the river seems resolved, a neighbor problem 100 miles to the southwest at our home in Boardman has not had as happy a conclusion.

We feared for the nature of the new tenants not long after a very imposing new home was constructed scant feet from ours in the tiny river community of Althom.

Just who would be the future occupants of such a structure (with its large hot tub on the porch) and easy access to the river for boating we wondered, given that vacation homes can become party havens.

Sven Olefeldt, a very distant relative who lives in southern Sweden, told me that construction of a large home that dwarfed its neighbors would not be allowed in egalitarian Sweden. (Sven and his wife, Margareta and daughter Helena had visited our Allegheny River cabin years ago, so Sven knows the nature of the Althom area.)

A much smaller cottage had stood on the site where the imposing residence now stands. It had been a retreat for Bill and Linda Shields, who owned the grocery store in Tidioute, eight miles to the south, where they also had an apartment above the store.

But with the sad passing of Bill (who was only in his late 40s) from asthma Linda left the grocery business, and had their small river cabin torn down and then had the present huge structure constructed as the new home for herself and her two children, Patricia and Brandon.

(Brandon once gave me a tour of their new home, and I was very much impressed by its quality as well as by the beautiful eagle’s view of the river the third-floor bedroom provided. Small balconies off upstairs rooms were a unique feature.)

The home must be one of the largest, if not the largest, residences in the stretch of the river from the Kinzua Dam down to Tidioute or even beyond, and makes our cabin, one of the largest in Althom, look small.

But it wasn’t too long after Brandon and Patricia completed their schooling and moved along in their lives (Althom is not that accessible a community, particularly in the winter when the undulating access road along the river becomes icy) that the home was offered for sale.

We feared for the worst as we observed an impressive number of prospective buyers visit the home. (Were there “party animals” among them, we wondered.)

However, the home was sold to a family from the Pittsburgh area who are generally there only on weekends and certainly aren’t prone to any objectionable habits.

They even removed the porch hot tub, which perhaps had fallen prey to the elements.

We do hope that our new Althom neighbors are there for the long term, and that the home doesn’t change hands again in the foreseeable future.

(But given our respective advanced ages, this perhaps matters more to our son, James, and his wife, Harmony, than to us.)

The new owners do have two large dogs which given the proximity of our properties seem to regard me as an “intruder.” (However, they are confined to a fenced-in yard area and may even be “bear deterrents.”)

The ownership of two rather noisy dogs is certainly a very minor complaint compared with “what could have been” as to tenants of the spacious home.

The situation at our home in Boardman is presently not as auspicious.

A Youngstown doctor (a surgeon) and nurse wife lived in the Ridgewood Estates home bordering ours for many years, where they raised two daughters and a son.

Some years ago, after their children were grown the doctor and his wife moved to Poland, (a more upscale area than Ridgewood). But the doctor kept the Boardman home, which he used as an office.

But in his retirement years the physician failed to keep the home in good repair (according to another neighbor who has visited the premises recently) apparently because its use was so limited.

The neighbor said the home wasn’t sufficiently heated in the winter, and as a result, the home’s plumbing froze and cracked. He cited numerous other problems in the home that resulted from neglected maintenance.

The doctor decided to sell his family’s old home recently, and according to published records, it went for just $115,000, (even though it sits on a double lot) which is well below what it might have sold for if in good repair.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the critical neighbor has now sold his meticulously kept property located just across from the doctor’s. He has now decided to also move to Poland, and says he has sold his home for more than twice the sale price of the doctor’s home.

We will welcome the new neighbors of course, and hope they’re able to successfully cope with their new home’s apparent problems.

Given the wide range in quality between the homes of our neighbors in Althom and Boardman, the nature of their respective new owners could differ markedly.

Thus, as we wait for our new Ridgewood Estates neighbors to move in, we “hope for the best” as the saying goes.

What happened with the two properties shows the degree to which property owners can be subject to. the decisions of their neighbors.

Robert Stanger has lived seasonally for over 40 years along the Allegheny River and has the stories to tell about it.