Abandoned Houses

Since I was a kid I have been fascinated by abandoned houses.  Growing up in the corn belt I saw plenty of old farm houses falling down from the inside out.  Most of them would be out in the middle of a corn field, set well back from the highway or road.

To this day, I look at them and can't help but wonder about who built it, who was the first person to walk into it and  call it home?  Who was the last person to leave it?  Did someone die there, born there, have their first kiss, or heart broken there?

courtesy of 100abandonedhouses.com

Houses like this:

They don't make houses like that anymore.  That house was made for someone.  Someone saved up enough money, and had it built just for them.  Not as a part of a housing development.  Not some master planned community.

What were their dreams and their hopes?  Did they imagine their children's children living there?  Was it supposed to stay in the family, providing shelter for generations?

Or did they mean for it to be used once, and thrown away like houses are today?

Both of my Grandfather's built their houses themselves- that's right, they built them.  By hand.  They were amazing men. They knew they would die owning those houses.  They would raise their families in those houses.  And they did.  I was a child in those houses.

I picked my house out of a MLS data base, toured it once and said, "good enough."

I see these kinds of pictures, and wonder what the original owner would say.  Would they shrug and walk away, not really caring or would they weep?

I think they would be let down.  Saddened by how cheaply someone regarded their sacrifices and efforts.  I can't help but think that we are somehow less because of it.