Thornewell v. Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance

The plaintiffs’ house is located in Wausau, Wisconsin, on a lot 120 feet wide which slopes to the south. Along the lot’s south boundary and about 12 feet from the house there was a retaining wall. Between the house and the wall a driveway extended from the garage behind the house to the street. The house was built in 1956 and by 1965 the retaining wall had become tipped to the south and a five-inch crack extended down the center of the driveway which had also become tilted to the south.

Plaintiffs hired a masonry contractor in the spring of 1965 to repair the retaining wall and driveway and…