The building that most recently housed Vashon Island Realty was torn down on Monday, five years after being deemed unsafe.

King County’s Beth Deraitus, an abatement manager with the Department of Permitting and Environmental Review (DPER), was at the site on Monday overseeing the process, which the county undertook after the off-island property owner failed to comply with demolition orders.

King County does not demolish buildings frequently and typically looks for cheaper alternatives, Deraitus said. In this case, however, the building was unsafe and sliding down the hill. Deraitus estimated the cost to remove the building to be about $45,000 with additional expenses possible. She noted that safety was of paramount concern in this project because of the houses and road below the structure.

Once the demolition process is complete, likely today — Wednesday — Deraitus said King County Roads officials will determine if the foundation wall is holding, or if work will be needed to keep the outside slope from failing.

Many islanders likely remember the building as a charming white structure with blue-painted window frames and flowers blooming in the flower boxes. However, county officials red-tagged the building in 2011 when the hillside began to give way after heavy rains, making the building uninhabitable.

Off-island real estate agent Gretchen Miller purchased the building in 2012, saying she wanted to develop the site, though she frequently had it listed as for sale since then.

DPER’s Sheryl Lux said that in 2014, DPER officials notified Miller of code violations and then informed her she must demolish the structure. She appealed that decision and lost last year, but failed to comply with orders again. Last fall, Lux added, the abatement process began.

In March of 2015, Miller told The Beachcomber that she wanted community feedback about what islanders wanted to see in the space. Her ideas ranged from a campground, to a retail store, to a welcome center.

The building was built in 1939 and was owned by a man named Bill Shakespeare who operated it as a tea house. Paul Helsby eventually purchased it and used it as an adjunct office for his real estate business. Bill and Lynne Chunn bought the property from Helsby and operated their real estate business there for 29 years — until a spring of heavy rains and a slipping hillside closed the building forever.

— Susan Riemer