When I was young my parents moved a lot, moving home meant getting a new bedroom and exploring new territory and was always so exciting. Unlike most people my parents chose big old run down houses that either hadn't been lived in for a long time, or that hadn't been refurbished for what felt like centuries. Musty carpets, Victorian kitchens, over grown gardens and mangles in the parlour, it was exploring heaven! Walls would be knocked down and rebuilt, carpets ripped up, heating put in and gardens landscaped and eventually the house was a home - just ready to move on to the next.
Now I am older I am too drawn to these old lonely dilapidated houses just waiting for the right person to come and give them some TLC, and bring them back to life. Just like in the secret garden and the film UP I want to discover my own little mysterious gem. I love the romance of it all, although I did always secretly love them as run down.
So that is why I am posting these marvellous images that I have discovered this morning, they are by photographer Kevin Bauman. Kevin has been photographing houses since the 90's and the majority of them are in Detroit. This is just a few of the 100 on the web page.
I just wish I could find one of these in England.
I look forward to your posts so much! Such a great aesthetic.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. How fun your parent instilled that sense of adventure in you. Brianne
ReplyDeletelovely houses! when swampy and i see abandoned houses we always have a discusion about what we would do to it it we could buy it and have the money to make it habitable!
ReplyDeletewhen i was 8 we moved into a large old house here in the new forest. it had no bathroom and an outside loo and no heating so mum would bath me and my sister in an old tin tub in front of the fire!
beautiful! my dream would be to buy one of those and fix it up... so lovely, they have really great shells.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful yet sad. I see many houses such as these in my own area, Mostly abandoned because of foreclosures. Unfortunately many of these houses will be so run down by the time they are available to sell that they will end up being torn down.
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear that some of you would be willing to take on one of these homes .:)
Beautiful, the stories those houses could tell !!
ReplyDeleteWe do something similar to what your parents did.
We are not drawn to new modern dwellings, we like the over abundance of dust gathering moldings and curlicues in stair railings and too many rooms and big echoing hard to heat rooms.
Even our apartment here is in a 100 year old building, with 15 ft high ceilings and crown molding and hints at grand days long ago.
wow, i don´t know why but old abanded houses and especially abanded factories fascinates me.
ReplyDeleteWhen i se them in reality i always feel a sort of respect for them.
*gasps*
ReplyDeletei LOVE this. thank you for sharing these photos.
your blog is so inspirational for me. please keep unveiling your lovely heart through life-glimpses that catch your eye!
Great post.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see homes like these, I can't help but think of the first owners; how proud and happy they must have been to have their own special place; the tiny bare feet patting along the floors; games of hide-and-seek, and coffee at the kitchen table.
Hopefully some of them will someday be homes to happy memories once more.
Such beautiful houses. They look so sad and unloved now.I hope they find someone to love them again soon.
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful blog here. :)
OH these are gorgeous photos. Old abanoned-like houses certainly have their charm. must've been fun! Although I always think of horror movies too, which aren't that fun haha.
ReplyDelete:o)
I too am captivated by the abandoned and dilapidated fabulous old Homes... I cannot imagine how anyone could have ever walked away from them??? We purchased one over a decade ago and brought it back to life... it is a labor of Love and a Dream come true!
ReplyDeleteI especially love the pair of Victorians, I'd buy them both and construct a breezeway between them to make them one grand rehab! *winks*
Dawn... The Bohemian
Ah. My home town. Most of these houses I have either walked or driven by. They are as beautiful, lonely and haunting in real life as they are in these photos. Perhaps even more so.
ReplyDeleteI'm backing through your blog post by post - what wonderful collections of images you put up. Your introductions set the tone perfectly. I have a secret affection for Detroit - I think it's going to become one of the modern wonder cities, a newly artistic, muscular place for the young to grow and the wise to renew. Most photographers emphasize the ruin - Kevin catches the possibilities, which you've lived with and seen flower. Thanks for bringing him around - it is a welcome introduction.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to find your blog, it is ENCHANTMENT in motion...such a gift.
ReplyDelete