HARTWELL — Rumors in Hartwell of a “million-dollar-house-and-furniture” demolition and a city park construction, growing wildly as kudzu this week, were found to be about as useful as the weed itself.

On Tuesday, a deceased mother’s only son could be seen at the former site of his mother’s house — as land was cleared where her house had stood for only a few years. Located within the city’s designated Historical District, the house had never been listed on any registry of historical structures. The small parcel on Athens Street is hardly noticeable to passersby, and the landowner, whose mother died four years ago, would like for the privacy of his family name to be protected.

He has removed the house he built for his mother, not wanting to sell it or live in it. He decided instead, during the last four years, that he would protect and preserve the land as a living tribute to his late mother.

He will not donate the land to the City of Hartwell for use as a public park. A quiet, private garden-type landscape design is being planned, a blend with the community’s well-tended surroundings.

That type of land use would be the best lasting “tribute” to his mother’s memory, the owner said.