[Resettozero]

The executor or administrator of the mother's estate may have just let it go into foreclosure, or actively given it back to the bank to save time.

And in a fit of rage over the loss, the bank manager had the house and other buildings torn down and the lot cleared. Yes, I can see that's what happened.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

“And in a fit of rage over the loss, the bank manager had the house and other buildings torn down and the lot cleared. Yes, I can see that’s what happened.”

Or, following the foreclosure/quit claim, the bank found itself owning a house that was essentially worthless, and made a business decision that the goodwill from turning the house over to the town would be more valuable to the bank than whatever amount it would have received trying to sell the house.