Do you know when you see something amazing and you gasp or your hair stands on end?
On a recent trip to Carthage, I caught a glimpse of this abandoned house. Just a tiny glimpse as we drove by at 70 miles an hour. We were on our way to an appointment and running late. I could not resist the temptation though. I made Mark turn around so I could shoot some photos.
As seen from the photos, part of the house must have been demolished or fallen down a long time ago. The remaining house is leaning backward – alarmingly so — and I expect it will not be standing for much longer.
It pains me to say that. I hate to see old places just rot away.
The rough sawn wood, metal roofing, and architectural details are still worth salvaging, but it looks like they will not be saved. Whoever owns this old place uses it to store metal parts and pieces and other odds and ends.
Seeing this old house reminded me of a quote I saved from a Country Home magazine years ago. I hunted for it and found it. The August 1998 issue featured Roberta Brown Root‘s cottage which she bought and renovated even though it was listed as a “tear-down”. Then and now, I can identify with what her builder said to her.
Kim, I loved your photo progression on this post. I felt as if I was walking up to this beauty along with you as she got closer and closer. Love the quote too!
That was my intent: to recreate what it felt like to walk up to this old place. Glad it worked!
Strait to the heart. So beautifully done. I wish we could save this old darling……….
Love it, Kim. I was hoping you were going to say it was your next project, and that the owner had left all that stuff behind.
Honestly, if we had been asked to salvage it, I would not have been able to resist. Glad though that the town will save it.
The town will save it?
I love your intent, too, and your heart. It is filled with some pretty interesting things…maybe you could find the owner and “rescue” them for some of your great projects!
So very sad. I will never understand why people do this. Maybe they tried to sell it when it was in much better shape. So very, very sad.
I feel that it deserves to be saved, but I am also overwhelmed by the energy it has now: a soldier standing alone in time, resisting wind, rain and sun. I have never seen such abandoned houses here in Toronto because the city is trying to preserve them and help those who decide to buy a heritage house as it is listed here. As a hobby photographer who likes to take minimalistic landscape pictures with long exposure, I would really love to find places like this near our countryside…