Last week Jeff and I got out and explored a few abandoned homes. I do believe they were my first real homes. Earlier in the year I was able to explore a handful abandoned trailers in Bombay Beach but being as those were part of the decline of the whole area it’s kind of a different vibe. At Bombay Beach the whole area was in disrepair. The entire town was essentially in ruins. These homes, alone, surrounded by churches, and businesses are easily overlooked, partially due to the growth around them. Trees, brush, and weeds have taken over the areas surrounding both. If you blink while driving by, you’ll miss them. In the first; a spacious kitchen, large living room with gorgeous natural light and a fireplace, a small den, two bedrooms, built in cabinets. All left for mother nature to take back over.
In the second house; two bedrooms, a gorgeous retro kitchen, living room, quaint sun porch, large upstairs loft, and a brightly colored bathroom.
Houses are weird to explore, so many emotions. I like them for the same reasons I like exploring any other place, I like to document. These are places that meant something to someone, a home especially. Clothes in the closet, board games in the living room, food in the pantry. Those belonged to someone, they belonged to a family. It’s hard to convey all the different emotions when you see these things. I’ve seen thousands of photos of abandoned homes online but there’s nothing like actually being in one. I’m sure with every home I find I’ll become a bit more desensitized to it but only time will tell…
xoxo
27 comments
I don't get how those people could leave so much stuff behind. It always makes me think for what reason they had to leave the house. Or maybe they just wanted to throw that stuff away eventually and thought it was easier to leave it behind. Anyway, I just love your abandoned places posts! x kayleigh // mylittlejeans
I think a lot of the time it's easier just to leave stuff behind than to actually throw it away. Especially when money gets involved, if you have to leave because you can't pay the mortgage you're not going to want to shell out the money for a dumpster.
Actually, this just reminded me of it – when I was house hunting a few years back I went in a house that was just absolutely TRASHED. Stuff E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. Then on the wall they had painted something offensive but along the lines of "here's some money for a dumpster" and there was a pile of pennies on the floor.
This is so cool! I always love to see pictures of abandoned places and always wanted to explore them but I haven't gotten the opportunity to run into such abandoned homes/factories. I love that you post this type of post because I can vicariously live through you haha
Haha, thanks! I guess this is a much safer way to enjoy these places too! 😛
haha definitely but I still want to someday check them out and perhaps post my experience on my blog like you do yours! 🙂
Very interesting photos. They were a bit hard to look at because of those emotions that go with someone's home. I can only imagine what it was like to actually be there.
This is so cool! I think you would love to explore berlin, there are tons of abandoned buildings. I have been in an amusement park where we had to jump the fence. What a great adventure! Gotta post about it!
Oooh! Fun!
Absolutely amazing. Soulful solitude.
You should be in real estate!!
chloexx
These are great photos! I agree that there is so much emotion attached to exploring homes – you just have to wonder what made people leave a place they called home in so much disrepair.
Melissa
Thanks, Melissa! 🙂
Wow. There really is a lot more emotion attached to this for me, since it was someone's home! Makes me kinda sad. I wonder what the circumstances of the abandonment were, since it looks like a fair amount of stuff was left behind. (The furniture and old TV, especially.)
The second home, which is the one with the furniture and tv, really seemed like maybe older people lived there. Just a lot of things in the place lead me to think that. So maybe they died and there was no one to come clean up their things, or take over the property.
These are awesome pictures. I am always afraid of there being squatters inside the houses I see. My boyfriend and I just drove a ways away this weekend to look at a house that was built in 1890. It is for sale for $30,000 the door was unlocked and we wanted to go inside but decided not too. I wish we were ready to buy a house. It would involve putting so much money into it but it would be amazing to bring it back to its glory days.
Emily
eageremily.blogspot.com
Emily
Oh wow. I would LOVE to buy a really really old house and restore it. Alas, I'm not made of money.
That's so wild there was still food and clothes left behind! I wonder what the story behind that house was. I have explored abandoned houses before but none of them had personal items left behind like this one.
I love to explore, and every time i saw your abandonplaces pictures, i want to be there!
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I always love your photography posts about abandoned places that you've explored. Exploring abandoned homes has always seemed so exciting to me and I've wanted to do so for a long time. See how things are almost like they are frozen in time. But I'm too frightened that I may get caught, or disrespectfully stumble across a homeless person taking shelter and what not. Do you ever encounter people when exploring such places?
I have never personally encountered someone living anywhere I've explored, but you're absolutely correct, it's not out of the question at all. It's a very common thing. I'm pretty sure just about everyone I explore with has at one time or another run into someone.
Yeah, it's like you said, it's full of emotion, and I can feel it from the pictures. Why people left the houses? :
These photos always remind me of Fallout 3. I'm a huge fan of post-apocalyptic literature and games, so like yourself and the other commenters, I'm always wondering about what the story is.
I went into an abandoned house a few years ago with my best friend, and some people before us thought it would be funny and scary to douse the bathroom walls with red paint. It actually looked like a murder scene, it was surreal.
Have you listened to this episode of This American Life: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/199/house-on-loon-lake ? This post made me think of it. The circumstances behind an abandoned home are so fascinating to me and yes, the emotions, too. Whoa.
Woah, I love that there are still clothes in the closet!
If you haven't already heard it, I'm pretty sure you'd love this episode of This American Life about kids who discover an abandoned house full of things: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/199/house-on-loon-lake
Ha – I see another commenter already recommended the same podcast. 🙂
Fantastic pictures with emotion on each corner!
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