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A large pile of rubble was all that remained of the iconic Lower Valley home of famous El Paso private investigator Jay J. Armes.
Construction crews had demolished most of the celebrity house and cleared nearly all the land on the property Friday morning.
All that remained to identify the house as belonging to Armes were his logos on the high, steel-bar fence surrounding the property. On the fence sits a small sign reflecting his humor. The sign reads: “On this site in 1897 nothing happened.”
Trees lined the property at the busy commercial intersection of North Loop and Yarbrough drives.
A sign in front of the property states it is available for “lease or build-to-suit.” The sign includes logos of Wendy’s and Pollo Feliz.
The high-traffic area is a prime retail area. Across the street from Armes’ former property is McDonald’s, a Walmart Neighborhood Market, Supreme Laundromat and a shopping center.
The property used to have a menagerie of tigers, lions and other exotic animals. Armes said he has since donated the animal to several zoos. It also used to have a lake, where his five children would play and fish, he said. He also used to park his helicopter there. The helicopter was sold.
Armes has been a private investigator for about 70 years and has garnered plenty of publicity for many high-profile cases.He takes credit for rescuing actor Marlon Brando’s kidnapped son Christian Brando in Mexico in the early 1970s.
News broke in October 2021 that the property was under contract. The Lower Valley mansion, listed for $1.6 million. At the time, the property had been on the market for more than a year.
A huge estate sale was held with hundreds of unique items offered, including vintage cars and memorabilia from a private-eye career spanning more than 70 years.
Some equated the experience to seeing a celebrity home and took pictures as they walked through the mansion.
More: Famous El Paso private eye Jay J. Armes selling his home and offices, but not retiring
At the time, Armes, who was 89, insisted he was not retiring.
“I’m downsizing,” and will continue to work from home, he said then. He and his wife bought a smaller El Paso home.
Vic Kolenc contributed to this report.
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