Welcome to the wonderful Tracey Morehousen estate, where the land is filled with luscious greens, vibrant yellows, bloody reds, and pure purples. Fun fact: this house is not owned by Madam Morehousen. It actually belongs to a man named Xavier Duncan. In order to appreciate the full value of this nationally recognized tour, you must first learn about the man who owns it.
Xavier was a simple man with a simple life in our modern world. Madam Morehousen affectionately called him a kind soul with an eager heart. He stood slightly taller than the average man but his compassion certainly reached higher than the prophets themselves, despite what you may hear at the end of this tour.
It is rumored that Xavier bought this land in hopes to impress a woman named Marissa. It is said that Marissa was Xavier’s first crush. They were high school sweethearts. Xavier wanted to marry Marissa, but Marissa asked him, “How can you make plans for marriage when you don’t have ownership of anything that your parents didn’t give you?”
This question bothered Xavier so much that he bought this very plot of land. He confidently said, “One day, we’ll build our house on this land, raise our children here, and live happily ever after.” He even went as far as to trim the grass down, as if to prepare the land for the foundation of the house that now rests here.
Unfortunately, Marissa ended up deciding to go to college out of state, leaving Xavier with a broken heart and a plot of land. It seemed that possessing land would not keep a woman by his side. Still, he was determined to build his estate. It is because of that determination that we now have one of the most famous tours in all of the nation.
As previously stated, Xavier Duncan was a kind soul with an eager heart. He was simple man with a simple life in a modern world. The only complicated thing he ever wanted was a wife. Each part of this estate further explains those complications and helps each tourist understand the conclusion of the story for which this tour is known by.
For instance, take a look at the white brick fence. It extends the full length of the property from the front, down the sides, and across the back. Xavier built this fence for a girl named Lily because it reminded her of her father’s ranch back in her hometown. The fence is Xavier’s exact height because Lily said it was his height that helped her feel safe. And so, just as looking up to Xavier made her feel safe, Xavier felt her looking up to the wall would provide those same feelings of security.
If you look at the top layer of the bricks, you can see an engraving of a silhouette of a lily flower. This was to remind Lily that this is her home. Isn’t that romantic? Unfortunately, their relationship only lasted two years before she succumbed to homesickness and returned to where she came from. Apparently, building a white brick fence cannot keep a woman either.
Venture with me now through the front gate onto the tar driveway that extends all the way up to the garage door ahead. Don’t mind the topiary of the stoic, pondering man. We will return to him in a moment. For now, let’s focus on the driveway.
The driveway is made of tar because Xavier fell in love with Chelsea, whose brother owned a construction company. Chelsea’s brother needed money to keep his construction business alive. Feeling like they were going to be family soon, Xavier hired her brother to construct this driveway.
As you can see, the job was decent, but there are cracks and breakages all the way up to the door. This driveway is much like Xavier and Chelsea’s relationship was. Over the two years that they were together, they had broken up and gotten back together multiple times. This is also symbolized in the spaces between the flowerbeds along the driveway. There is plenty of beauty in these flowerbeds, but that beauty does not always last as their relationship had its beautiful moments with seasons of emptiness in-between. There are seasons of grass before the next flowerbed.
Once the project was complete, Chelsea left Xavier and took some of the money he paid her brother for his services. It turns out that their relationship became a con opportunity for Chelsea, and she had Xavier overpay her brother by a couple of grand so that she could walk away with some money as well.
Xavier thought to have the driveway redone, but with the hours he spent laying pipelines throughout the state, you can see he never got around to it. Over the years, the tar began to peel away and crack from the exposure in the sun. The driveway, much like Xavier’s love life, were a waste. We can see that land, fences, and driveways did not keep the women who entered his life.
Now, before we get to the house, please look around at the yard. I know you’ve taken notice of the topiaries from the entrance and around the lawn. You’ve seen the stoic man at the front and you can see the flamingos in the back if you step over here. Topiaries of all sorts of creatures can be seen around the lawn, and at this point, you can probably guess why these artworks were placed here.
Xavier met a young woman, named Yessica, early into his career with the Crossroad Pipeline Company. Yessica was an art collector, and in wanting Xavier to establish a place for her on his land, she had him purchase these topiaries. She wanted to feel like she lived in an imaginary world. She was a creative. She had him buy topiaries of animals from the air, land, and sea. She had him purchase topiaries of imaginary things.
Yessica wanted her home to feel like an escape from the realities of the world, and our dear, old Xavier simply wanted to be loved. Fun fact: one of these topiaries Xavier purchased after his breakup with Yessica, which only lasted six months. Can you guess which one? No?
Turn your eyes to the topiary nearest the entry gate. It is the stoic man standing with his arms behind his back and his face to the sky. The specific date the topiary was crafted is unknown, but the reason for is its existence is an outward expression of Xavier’s desire and heart. It is the biggest topiary in the yard and I believe that says a lot about how Xavier’s priorities shifted after the breakup.
Xavier, as we said, was a simple man. He longed for nothing but a peaceful life in love with a wife and children. After failing in so many relationships, Xavier began to ponder on what it was that could keep a woman. So far, we’ve learned that beautiful, healthy land with the promise of a home does not keep a woman. We’ve learned that white brick fences with the feeling of security and familiarity do not keep a woman. We’ve that tar driveways and flowerbeds representing one’s commitment to the family do not keep a woman. We’ve learned that topiaries expressing one’s freedom to dream big does not keep a woman. So, what does keep a woman? Let us turn to the house.
Though the house is made of stone, brick, and wood, the house’s original makeup was wood, and wood alone, from the forest. Yes, before Yessica, Chelsea, and Lily, there was another. Her name was Ashley, and for her, Xavier took the trees from the forest and made a home.
Ashley loved the message spoken by the trimmed grass in the middle of his land. Though the land was bought for Marissa, Ashley knew she would be the woman to lay a foundation. She also took the size of the land to mean that Xavier had money, so when Xavier shared that he wanted to have a home with her, she gladly agreed to live with him.
Xavier is a man that likes to work with his hands. He had friends help him lay the foundation. He had brothers help him cut down the trees. He, himself, cut everything to size. Then, all who had helped him before helped construct the wooden house.
It was a two-story lodge with no fence at the time. The frame of the house is based upon Xavier’s original structure, so you can see that he knew a thing or two about good-looking houses. There are plenty of windows for breathtaking views of the hill country, a balcony on the second floor, and a porch on the first floor. There are multiple garages for many uses and there are plenty of rooms for Xavier and his bride to have plenty of children.
However, as with the others, Ashley did not make it. She was a city girl, and this home was not close enough to the city. Six months after moving in, she broke up with him and returned to the big city. A house, built by his own hand and purchased with his own money, was not enough to keep a woman.
You can imagine the resentment and bitterness that rose within Xavier after giving so much of himself and still not receiving the very thing he wanted in return. Five times, he had his heart broken by women he thought he could marry. You could imagine the questions forming in his mind as he stood, much like the topiary at the entrance, gazing at the sky, contemplating.
He was kind. None of his exes have said otherwise. He was sweet and would do anything for you, as evidenced through the gifts seen so far on this tour. He was loving. He was never the heartbreaker, but always the heartbroken. He was a man who spent his days exuding good character, hard work, and love. This was not enough for Marissa, Ashley, Lily, Chelsea, and Yessica. Xavier Duncan had almost given up on love when, finally, he met our Madam Tracey Morehousen, five years later.
Tracey Morehousen was a very intelligent woman. When she and Xavier met, it was not hard for him to fall in love with her. She said everything he wanted to hear. She loved the white brick fence; she loved the yet-to-be-damaged driveway. She appreciated the topiaries, and the house was as marvelous as she wanted her house to be. The romanticism of Xavier drew her in far more than those who had come before her, for he had told her why the property looked the way it did.
She found Xavier easy to love, and he found her to be a dream come true. The two married two years into their relationship. Xavier Duncan had finally gotten what he always prayed for. Now, when he looked into the sky, he could ponder about how his kids would look and how he and his wife would look in old age. The happily ever after began.
Madam Morehousen stated that the she never went more than a month without flowers or a massage. She didn’t have to wait to be taken on dates. He didn’t prioritize his work over his household, and because of the nature of his job, the couple never experienced financial burden. Their problems seemed so minor, you would’ve never known their relationship would end with blood.
Very early in their marriage, Morehousen began to reveal she had a jealous streak within her. Coming home to a white, brick fence layered for another woman, a tar driveway paved for another woman, dozens of topiaries crafted for a third woman, and a wooden house built for another woman made her wonder where her lasting gift would come from. He had purchased all these gifts for other women in much shorter relationships. It made her wonder where she could leave her mark.
This desire led to the first string of arguments. She would do simple things like not clean or not cook for weeks without valid explanation. When confronted about her laziness, she snapped at him and accused him of cheating. It took months to admit she was jealous of all the gifts left for other women on the property that was bought for another woman. Xavier, being the man that he is, told her she could have whatever she wanted. All she had to do was ask.
She did not want to have a new gift displayed on the property. Instead, she asked to remodel the house. The house was where the home was. The house was a representation of who owned it. She wanted the house remodeled so that it could reflect his love for her and her alone. After all, she was the one who became his wife.
He agreed, and changed the decorum of the house to fit what she dreamed of. Thus, we have the stone that covers most of the more protruding portions of the house, the brick acting as the stabilizing feature in the backdrop, and the wood remaining as the accent. By the time Xavier was done, what the house used to look like, as seen in the display by the front door, was altogether different.
You’d think Morehousen would be satisfied with the changes, but it is as I said, she had a jealous streak. As you enter into the house, you will see the very extent of that jealousy, starting with the front door. The door was not always glass, but was originally wood.
To help you understand just how encompassing the changes were, let me go through the lists of changes she had done. The chandelier in the living room used to be a fan. The entire kitchen was remodeled to include marble. The wood floors were much darker than they are now. The windows were no longer rectangles but now include arch tops. The furniture was no longer cotton, but leather. The TV was 50 inches, not 85. The master bedroom used to have a queen-sized bed, not a king. Little by little, she converted his house into her house and his possessions into her possessions. The two were becoming one, you could say.
You’d think her jealousy would be tamed, but how could it be? The land, the foundation, the yard, the fence, and the driveway were all still built for other women. She wanted to be rid of all of them. Thus, she began to ask Xavier to have all these things remodeled. It was here in this living room, just after walking in through that hallway from the front door, that what Xavier called “an outrageous request” was made.
Though the women he built them for were long gone, these pieces of his home reminded him of lessons he had learned to make him a better man. They reminded him that material possessions and wealth do not keep a woman. If this ideology was true, why was she burning through so much money?
After Xavier made it clear that he would not spend any more money remodeling his home, Morehousen became livid. This rejection started an argument that was detailed in Xavier’s trial. In his statement, Xavier said that Morehousen walked outside to the garage, went through his tools, took a sledgehammer, and went to demolish the driveway on her own. When Xavier stopped her, she took lighter fluid and matches and set fire to a couple of topiaries.
Panicked by the maniacal actions of his wife, Xavier said he would do anything else to calm her down. That is when Morehousen asked for her name to be included in the deed to the land and house. Xavier did not catch why this was so important to her, but since he loved and cherished his wife, he agreed to her request.
Both of these documents were over here in the kitchen, underneath the sink in a lock box that was placed inside this drawer with a lock on it. It took both a key and a fingerprint to get to those documents. Now, please, hold all questions about the trail of “blood” heading from the kitchen down the hall to the master bedroom. I can assure you that it is not real blood, but paint that was laid to help with the tour. We’ll get to that later. For now, this is where the safe was, in the kitchen, beneath the sink, and behind a locked drawer.
After Xavier had Morehousen’s name placed on the deeds, life was quiet for three months. Xavier went to work, and Morehousen was happy knowing that her husband loved her. You would’ve never had known the plot taking place in this room every night as she made meal after meal and washed dish after dish. It was at the end the three months that the plot of Tracey Morehousen began to unfold.
First, there was a “break-in” at the residence. None of the fancy items or money was stolen. The only items stolen in the house were documents involving the deed, and other lesser key items, but all items had Xavier Duncan’s signature.
As previously stated, the documents were in a safe that needed a key and a thumbprint, both in Xavier’s possession, to access. How the thief was able to get into the house, find the safe, and open the safe did not make sense, but being busy with work, Xavier had his wife refile all of the stolen documents and make sure that no scam was being brought against them.
Now, as you recall, the deed was in both of their names. So, both of their signatures were required to get the new copy of the deed. The government, however, never asked for Xavier’s signature. As far as he had known, his wife accomplished getting copies of the deed and all the missing documents without requiring his assistance at all.
However, after returning from his job in another city, Xavier returned to his home to find the gate locked, the locks on the house changed, and his wife was missing. After calling her several times, he found her at home. When he asked her about the changes to the locks, she gave him a copy of divorce papers that had already been filed with his signature approving it. You can imagine his shock in this random turn of events.
It is here that we reference the trial, where Xavier stated, “She told me that she never loved me. That our relationship was just a rouse to get my property and money.” Not only did Madam Trace Morehousen divorce Xavier Duncan, but she was also had everything signed over to herself. She had all the gifts he had given her, all the household items he had bought her, and she even had the land and the house. She received all of this money without Xavier seeing one attorney.
Before we get to the aftermath and the trial, let me backtrack for a moment to another victim of Morehousen. Jacoby Underwood, a civil attorney who was having an affair with Morehousen for years, was blackmailed by Morehousen, who threatened to expose Underwood to his wife. Not wanting to be divorced himself, Mr. Underwood promised to do whatever Morehousen wanted to in order to buy her silence. Morehousen didn’t cash in on this blackmail until she met Xavier.
When Xavier agreed to put her name on his deed that is when she called in her favor. She had Underwood break into the house, get copies of the deeds and his license, and go back to forge the documents to make it look like Xavier agreed to give away the property, house, and money to Morehousen.
Xavier, heartbroken again, stood outside of his home, locked out by a woman that he thought loved her. It turned out that she only loved his possessions and money like many women today, who only love men for what they can provide. They do not actually like the men for who they are.
Morehousen was another woman who had seen countless men abuse, manipulate, and damage women. She was one of the few who decided she was not going to be the next victim. She became a huntress of men and honed her craft from one relationship to the next. When she saw that Xavier was an unsuspecting man with an easily manipulatable heart, she began her long con. She had the documents, the signatures, and the property that came with them. She had won.
Xavier, however, would not go quietly. On that property was all the hope he had ever put into love. He could’ve just gone quietly in the night, but he knew there was a place she had missed, and he was determined to find that crack in her con to get his things back.
Xavier charged Tracey Morehousen and her attorney Jacoby Underwood with fraud. He accused them of conspiring against him to steal his money, his property, and his valuables. He confessed that he never signed divorce papers nor did he sign his property over to Morehousen. Morehousen, in turn, said the opposite, and furthered her statement by asking for a restraining order.
Xavier had been standing outside of his property for days. He stood outside the gate, he climbed the gate, and, one time, he broke into the house to get some of his things back. He surely looked like someone who needed to have a restraining order put on him, and the judge granted Morehousen that restraining order. This, however, was not the final straw.
The final straw came when Xavier’s attorney, James Monroe, discovered the affair between Morehouse and Underwood. Their phones records were subpoenaed, and through that order, they were discovered having sexual messages between one another, and even had photos, nude and dressed, of each other in the threads. Morehousen’s phone was empty, but Underwood kept the photos in case she tried to blackmail him. It was this discovery that led to the truth unraveling the lies.
It seemed the trial would be coming to a close with Morehousen and Underwood going to jail for their crimes with Xavier getting his money and possessions back. Confident in his ability to win the trial, Monroe told Xavier of the good news coming his way. The nightmare was finally over. However, this news produced a most vicious night for all parties involved.
You see, after Xavier was told about the affair, the con, and the intentional deception, he went outside of his attorney’s office and stood, as that topiary of the stoic man, for ten minutes. He stood there, on the street corner, just contemplating his next move. When he came to his conclusion, he got into his truck and went to the store.
At the store, Xavier Duncan purchased an ax and a rope. Then, he left the store and drove directly to his house, where Morehousen was drinking and stressing from the impending charges coming her way. Xavier drove around the back of the house, into the woods, and parked his truck.
If you look through the window, you can see the exact path he took to get here. He knew his house well and he knew just where to avoid any possible cameras Morehousen had purchased with his money. He climbed the fence from just behind the flamingos and made his way to this kitchen window, where he saw Morehousen drinking his wine.
After Morehousen drank herself to sleep, he climbed up the stone and brick to enter through the upstairs balcony. Follow me as we walk through the trail of blood down the hall, past the master bedroom, and up the stairs. Do not look into the master bedroom. You are not ready for that nightmare. Instead, look into the other rooms upstairs before the massacre is revealed.
If you look, you can see the study, the gym, and the art room that each of them used in the five years they were together. Each of these rooms were to be transformed into kid’s rooms after Morehousen gave birth. The computer desk would become a crib. The weight bench would become a racecar bed. The paintings would become posters of their child’s favorite celebrities. There were futures in these rooms. Xavier passed each of these rooms on his way back down the stairs, past all the family photos he and Morehousen had taken. He was not thinking about the future anymore. His mind was set on revenge.
He entered the master bedroom from the hallway leading to the stairs. Be mindful not to step on the blood – I mean paint. You’ll find it hard to find a place to set your feet because what Xavier did to Morehousen was gruesomeness incarnate. He embodied carnage as he woke Morehousen by chopping her foot off.
Startled by the immense pain, Morehousen awoke in terror and stumbled out from the bed screaming. Blood was gushing out of her ankle, resulting in the pool of blood at the foot of the bed. It was said that the blood was squirting so powerfully that it painted the walls as we’ve displayed here by the door.
This did not stop Xavier from taking two more swings, slicing through her forearm, which rose to defend her face, and into her chest. The second strike succumbing to fatigue and panic, as Xavier realized what he was doing, and landed into the thigh that still had a foot to stand on.
You can imagine Xavier pausing to look at himself in the mirror here on the wall opposite of the bed. He saw the blood scattered across his body. He could see his shirt soaked in his ex-wife’s blood. The murderous rage had consumed him and left him in this craven image. That is why you see the rope and the axe displayed here upon the dresser just under the mirror. It is where the items were found. The rope seemed brand new, while the axe had clearly been used to carve into flesh.
When Xavier came back from his moment of clarity, he discovered that Morehousen was on the phone, calling the police, as she tried to crawl away from Xavier. She crossed the threshold of the bedroom, blood spilling with every move, telling the officers her name. From the police report, she was only able to say her name and part of the address before the phone was taken from her and hung up.
Through this hallway, Xavier drug Morehousen to the kitchen. You can tell because there are less pools of blood by the streaks. Whether or not Morehousen was alive at this point is unknown even to Xavier. In his statement, he said that he had blacked out at the time and “couldn’t tell you when I stopped hearing her screams.”
What we do know is that Xavier drug her to the kitchen, back to the safe, and stopped. He took a rag from the sink and cleaned her alive or dead hand, and used it to open the safe to get his documents back.
Part of him knew that she would’ve figured out how to reset the safe. She was intelligent, crafty, and sneaky. He knew that she would be arrogant enough as to change the thumbprint scanner from his thumbprint to hers. She had to have something that had his thumbprint embedded on it. How else did her and Underwood get into the safe without him?
Once he opened the safe. He took this rag and washed his hands clean. He reached for his deeds and felt himself come back to his senses. He looked from the documents in the safe to the hand that opened them, lying lifeless underneath the sink. His eyes trailed that hand, up the arm, to the cold, dead face looking at him without life.
Here lied the woman he claimed to love. Here lied the woman that claimed to love him. Her eyes neither pleaded for mercy nor smiled in arrogance. It was just a body - a doll left out after being played with. He had no idea how long he had been cleaning his hands of blood, but it had been long enough for Madam Tracey Morehousen to pass from excessive bleeding and trauma to the body.
Xavier took the documents, walked to the front of his property, and sat in front of the topiary with the stoic man. That is where the police found him when they arrived. That is where they placed him under arrest, and that is where the trial of fraud became a trial of murder.
Three things happened at the next trial hearing: Tracey Morehousen and Jacoby Underwood were sentenced to prison for fraud, Tracey Morehousen was pronounced dead, and Xavier Duncan was sentenced to prison for murder. A kind, simple man in a modern world did not survive it. A man who only wanted love found misery, manipulation, murder, and incarceration.
You could speculate as to why he did it. You could accuse him for being weak-minded and impatient. You could accuse Morehousen of being evil and conniving. You are free to stand here, beneath the pondering, stoic man, and think about how this all unfolded. Why was Xavier so determined to be loved? Why was Morehousen so determined to steal? You are free to question all things related to this tale because that is what Xavier Duncan wanted. To help you with your conclusions, let’s remember why this topiary was created.
“What keeps a woman?” Xavier Duncan asked himself. You’ll find it eerie that his latest conclusion is “death”. “Money, possessions, land, house, generosity, massages, dates, and flowers do not keep a woman,” he said in a statement. “The only things that seem to keep a woman are a woman who wants to be kept, and death. She will not leave you if she does not want to leave and she cannot leave you if she is dead.” A dark statement from a tragically broken heart.
While incarcerated, Xavier received his property back. He had Monroe turn this beautiful property into the Tracey Morehousen Estate Tour just for all of us who watched this story unfold on television. We can come here, visit, and question what went wrong or what should’ve gone right. He asks that you ponder with him, as he now has all day and all night to ponder for himself within prison.
He asks that you ask yourselves three questions. What is love? Why do people choose to destroy love? Why can’t a man be loved for who his is, but rather is only loved for what he provides? He asks that you ponder these three questions with him, as he ponders these three questions on his 25-year sentence. This concludes the Tracey Morehousen Estate Tour. You are free to walk about the property and try to glean from it some sense of beauty despite the tragedy that took place on these grounds.
A loving man did live here. He did try to exude only love. It is seen in the house he built, the topiaries he planted, on the land you walk on, and in the fences surrounding it. It is our hope that you see this as you walk around. A loving man did try to love.
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