In 1917, another lumber merchant, William Hoge, acquired the mansion. Under similar circumstances to those of nearby Abingdon, properties surrounding Colross underwent industrialization with the construction of a warehouse complex and ancillary industrial buildings associated with Alexandria Hay & Grain. The mansion at Colross became a storage facility within a lumber yard operated by another planing mill owner. In 1927, the mansion and the adjacent warehouses were substantially damaged by a tornado, making the mansion uninhabitable.
