An elderly Mayflower couple whose longtime home was destroyed in a tornado last month is preparing to buy a house in the town's Northwoods subdivision -- a move that will mark the first home sold by Exxon Mobil since an oil spill in that neighborhood more than a year ago.

"We're going to have a house blessing before we move in," Bill Ausbrooks said Monday. "My friends from the senior-citizen center [in nearby] Conway" will "bless each room" before he and his wife, Virginia, 79, move back to Mayflower.

He and his wife have been living with a daughter, Shelia York of Sherwood, since the tornado demolished their home on Arkansas 365 beside the Lumber 1 Home Center owned by another daughter and her husband, Pam and John Morton of Little Rock.

The April 27 tornado claimed 16 lives, 12 of them in Faulkner County.

Ausbrooks did not want to say how much the house cost but noted that it went at about market value and that he got a good deal.

In October 2013, the oil company paid $167,000 for the house on North Starlite Road, according to the Faulkner County tax assessor's office. The new price won't be listed there until after the sale is closed.

Pam Morton said her parents expect to close on the 1,795-square-foot house on May 28.

Ausbrooks said he was "really excited" about moving back to Mayflower, where he works part time at Lumber 1.

Still, he fondly recalled his former home: "We had lived in that one house 57 years. I built it in '56 and '57.

"I'm 82, and the Lord said the house has served its purpose, so it's time to move on."

Billie Cartwright, another daughter who lives in Sherwood, said the sale process with Exxon Mobil has gone "extremely well."

"I think they have expedited this with us," she said. "It's just two weeks since we've signed papers, and we're going to close in just over a week. I have never met a group of more professional people."

U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, an Arkansas Republican whose 2nd District includes Faulkner County, has urged Exxon Mobil to donate some of the Northwoods subdivision houses for temporary or permanent use by tornado survivors.

Exxon Mobil demolished three houses in the subdivision after the company's Pegasus pipeline ruptured March 29, 2013, and spilled an estimated 210,000 gallons of heavy crude into the neighborhood, ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.

The company now owns about two dozen homes in that neighborhood, spokesman Aaron Stryk said in an email Monday.

Stryk did not reply to a question on whether the expected sale means the company has decided not to donate any of the houses for use by tornado survivors. He has previously said the company was evaluating its options.

Pam Morton said her parents "feel extremely comfortable about" moving into the neighborhood despite the oil spill. "There is no concern whatever about [the house's] having been in that area at all."

Many residents of 22 homes that were evacuated for months never moved back, and some nearby residents also have expressed environmental concerns.

Cartwright said Exxon Mobil has "beautifully redone" the one-story brick home her parents are buying.

"It looks like a brand-new house," she said. "The landscaping is beautiful," and the house has been newly painted and has new hardwood and carpeted floors.

Morton said, "It was a natural thing to think of that neighborhood."

After all, she said, the family already knew about Exxon Mobil's extensive landscaping in the subdivision, knew about the environmental testing after the spill and also knew "those houses were empty."

Cartwright said her parents lost most of their possessions in the storm but salvaged some pictures and Bibles that were in a cedar chest.

The couple and their son, Mark Ausbrooks of Little Rock, who was visiting them at the time, were not hurt.

"They did not have a scratch on them," but they had to be cut out of the closet where they had sought refuge, Cartwright said.

Morton said; "We felt like we lost a family member when we lost that house. This [new] house has given them something to look forward to ... rather than grieving all the memories."

Stryk has previously said that Exxon Mobil was donating money, water, fuel and storage space in its warehouses for other donated goods to help tornado survivors.

"We're doing what we can to help out, and we will continue to provide assistance where needed," Stryk said in early May.

Stryk did not release details Monday on the expected sale of the home.

Rather, he said, "We have received an offer for one of the properties we own, and other folks have expressed interest in several of our other properties. We remain committed to maintaining and marketing the properties we acquire through the Property Purchase and Price Protection Program launched last year."

Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson said the company wants to help in the tornado's aftermath.

"I know that they are trying to find a way so that they can help without hurting market values for others" in the community, Dodson said.

"They want to help the tornado victims, but they don't want to hurt people who have already been hurt by the oil spill" and worsen property values. "They are weighing that to make the best decision possible."

State Desk on 05/20/2014