History and Origins of the Faust Mansion 2.0

Originally the home of a wealthy, if eccentric investor, the house was seized by the government after the old man’s inheritors got a bit too busy spending their good fortune, and failed to pay their taxes about 18 years ago. After a few years of legal battles, during which the home was unoccupied and un-cared for, the government won and the house was being prepared to be auctioned, though its condition was, to say the least, poor. However, Tim Forrest heard about this with about a year of warning, and began to make preparations for implementing an idea of his. Namely a safe, secure home for all those kids in foster care or up for adoption he could help.

Forrest lined up contacts within Child Services, the local government, members of the state and even national parliament. He and his wife Sharla were quite the crusading celebrities for a little while, minor ones at least, appearing on various talk shows to drum up donations. Eventually, through the kind donations of individuals, churches, children’s welfare and other non-profit organizations, and even several corporations in need of write offs for tax reasons, Forrest was able to acquire the house and its grounds. The titles and such are technically held by a corporation, but Forrest and his wife Sharla are the sole stockholders. Most of the ongoing expenses and needs of the house are met the same way, the computers donated by corporations updating their own hardware, clothing often donated by stores or even manufacturers, the kind contributions of various wealthy individuals who happen to agree with the values and objectives of the Forests, and of course the government stipend for caring for foster children as well as a special bequest passed at the time that matches funds on cash donations. While the household is not wealthy, there is enough for all the basics and many luxury items; though a big screen plasma Hi Def is definitely out. Tim and Sharla have made it this far by being thrifty, and habits like that die hard.

Due to both the thrift of the Forests, and because it’s what he said he would do, most of the landscaping and repairs were actually carried out by the family. When children who were in the care of the Forests at the time return to visit, there are inevitably stories about how much work they had to do, from irrigation and drainage systems for the garden out back, to the extraction of heating oil drums from underground before they could rust out and make sinkholes, to replacing the deck, to ‘uphill in the snow, in the middle of July, with no shoes!’ stories. About the only nice things they have to say about ‘that slave driver Mr. Forrest’ is that he was pitching in right along side them, and he never lost patience or yelled about accidents or mistakes, always wording it that it was his fault for not watching more closely or explaining the task better. Mr. Forest had zero patience for shirking work, or deliberately spiteful sabotage of a project. The only legitimate way out of pitching in for a couple of hours every day was to have too much school work, and Mrs. Forest was an absolute witch about making sure you weren’t slacking off on your studies if you plead too much homework to help out.

The names of all the contributors who helped Tim and Sharla set this up are on a large plaque above the mantle in the living room. The projects the kids completed in those days are marked with the names of all the kids who helped, generally in cement for outside projects, or on other plaques for inside ones. The kids voted at the end of the projects on who worked the hardest or did the most, and that name is marked as a thank you. In other words, there are A LOT of plaques, even in the bathrooms!

James has taken over from Tim and Sharla, as Tim and Sharla need to rest and just generally live a quiet life. Things have, ever since James took over, been running even more effeciently and smoothly with the help of more government grants, Andrew's parents, and the fact that James works closely with Erehwon's IID. (Internal Investigations Department, the Erehwon version of the FBI)