Open house takes place Friday for the home where homicide, fire happened in January

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An open house took place Friday for a home that was dilapidated earlier this year.

The house on 3909 Deerfoot Way in Columbia is now put back together after playing host to a tragic event in January when a man was found dead after the house had been set on fire.

David Strumpf died in the home on Jan. 19. Steven Strumpf, 31, is in the Boone County Jail after he was charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, second-degree arson and credit card fraud in David Strumpf's death.

Steven Strumpf pleaded not guilty in August after he was indicted by a grand jury. His next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 15, according to court records.

Neighborhood HOA president Nate Simmons said the house at the front of the neighborhood served as a horrible reminder, but now, the neighborhood can move on.

"It was a really destructive, visual representation of that," Simmons said. "So, having Qudah Development come in and just totally revamp the place is a really neat, new chapter."

Work on the home began in March. Boone County records show the home was sold to Qudah Estates for $125,000 in April from the estate's representative, Susan Burkhart.

Hamza Qudah said he liked the challenge the property posed, and wanted to show clients that no job is too big or too small.

"A lot of people thought it is very difficult to fix, people recommended to demolish," Qudah said. "And that was why we decided to come forward and get involved and buy it."

After January's fire, the home sat on Deerfoot Way with gaping holes in the charred roof and debris all over the driveway.

Qudah said he has put around $500,000 into renovations on the home, including taking down and reframing the entire roof and second floor.

"We went ahead and completely gutted it and started over, pretty much," Qudah said.

"I would have thought there's no way this property could be saved," Simmons said. "But they did and it looks really nice."

Simmons was friends with David Strumpf and said while the memory will always be painful, it's helpful now that the house has a new life.

"It doesn't look like it was just recreated, it looks different, I think that's helpful," Simmons said. "Having a new family potentially coming in, that'll help because it's a new chapter."

Qudah said he was expecting a good turnout for Friday's open house, saying he has had a lot of public interest wondering what the interior looks like.

"I think [people] will feel a lot better, I think when people actually come in the house and see that there are no signs of fire or a smell or anything like that and it's been actually redone," Qudah said.

While he doesn't have a specific price or timeline for the sale, Qudah said the cost of the home is now around the $650,000-$700,000 range.

Simmons believes his old neighbor would be glad to see the home redone and on the market.

"I think [David Strumpf] would be happy because he cared so much about, not only just our subdivision, but our community and Columbia in general, that things have moved forward and it's turned positive," Simmons said.