I don’t know what you see when you look at this picture but let me tell you what I see and what I feel when I see this photo.
I was walking in the evening and came across this dilapidated house that had obviously been ravaged by a fire and then left to deteriorate even further with no hope of ever seeing its former glory.
Feeling sad at its disarray, I then can’t help but wonder what exactly its former glory was like and the story behind its life and family. Was the family happy? Was, the house comfortable and did it meet all its owner’s needs? I wonder what the house would be able to tell us if it could talk.
That’s not where it ends either. In my mind I look at this house and think that this old home would make for a great bed and breakfast. It would need complete renovating .
Or here is another thought. I could keep it in its old style and make it in to the kind of place that would be period dated. I could have the staff dressed more in the old southern style and use furniture from an older southern date.
I could even offer a photo op area where visitors could buy pictures dressed in period clothing and using old southern props.
Another option would, of course, be to just renovate the house and make it a great family home again. It would be a good place for a family to grow up and live in. This house has some history in it.
Things like that run through my mind and I can’t help but think of all the potential that this abandoned home, that no one else seems to care about, has. Then I feel hope that maybe if I see it others might as well.
Here’s another shot of a different house earlier in the day.
If this house could talk, I wonder what it would tell me.
Although it is further back and has a bunch of bushes around it, you can still see the stateliness of the manor. I wonder what family lived here. Were they wealthy? An established family, maybe politicians or just wealthy business people. I’m thinking they had to have money because of the size of the house.
I wonder why the family left. From the outside it doesn’t show signs of a fire or anything catastrophic. Maybe they couldn’t afford to maintain it anymore. Maybe there was a natural disaster that did some kind of damage that is not visible and it was to expensive to repair.
I just can’t help wondering about its past. I noticed that the grass is cut and the lawn is well cared for. There isn’t a For Sale sign posted on the property, so I’m thinking it is a family member or someone paid by family.
Since the house is so far away, the lighting is bright and doesn’t give much depth to the picture. The house is blocked by trees and bushes and I am not as drawn in emotionally like the other one.
As curious as I am about it and as much as I can’t help but love it for the fact that it’s such a historical looking old house, I don’t feel emotionally attached to this picture as I did with the last one. No day dreams or fantasies. Only passing hope that someone will restore it to its former glory.