I’ve been seeing this home shared quite a bit around the Internet recently, and have been messaged about it numerous times. I wanted to share some photos of this home from a previous summer.

Each abandoned home is different from one another, every home with its own distinct characteristics and history. Some of these homes, whether historic or more modern, large or small, may have been abandoned due to financial hardship, while others may have been left behind by families seeking a new start in a different location. Some may have been abandoned due to natural disasters or unforeseen circumstances, while others may have been abandoned due to neglect or disrepair.

Regardless of the reason, each abandoned home holds a different story and represents a unique chapter in the lives of the families who once called it home. Each home may have witnessed different joys, challenges, and triumphs, and may have been a witness to the evolution of a family’s life over time.

As one walks through the empty rooms and hallways of a vacant home, remnants of the past can be felt through the heavy silence that now fills each room. The faded paint, forgotten items and discarded furniture all tell a vivid story of a family’s life that was once filled with love and happiness. 

However, despite the sadness that abandoned homes may bring, they also hold a certain beauty and mystique among the cracked windows, peeling paint and their foliage-covered facades. These homes stand as a reminder of the impermanence of life and the inevitability of change. They can also serve as a canvas for the imagination, inspiring stories and ideas that may have otherwise never been conceived. For me personally, this is one of the main things that pulled me into my love for abandoned spaces in the first place.

Each home we build lives a different life, and like I mentioned earlier, most situations for a home’s abandonment are not that of a happier time. This home holds a rather sad story; one of loss and grief.

Talking to some locals, the story of this home has been passed around within the community quite a bit. A happy and loving couple previously lived in this home, and I think by the interior, and the many items left behind, it’s easy to tell that they enjoyed their time together, and lived a life full of stories worth sharing. I could tell by many of the items left behind that they enjoyed traveling, seeing the world together, and collecting interesting pieces from all over, whether it be smaller items or even furniture. I could feel how much they loved this home.

Unfortunately, one day one of the previous owners had walked in to find his partner had hung himself in front of the fireplace. It has remained unclear as to why he had decided to take his life. After that day, he was unable to return to the home, and dealt with incredible grief over the loss of the one he had planned to spend his life with inside this home. Continuing to live in, or even set foot back inside the home would have brought him too much misery, so it had sat untouched for years. Eventually, he too had passed away, and the home has since remained uninhabited, falling apart with the passing of time.   

Now, years after they have both gone, layer upon layer of dust collects atop a grand piano. Furniture, books, photos and letters all remain exactly where they were left, slowly fading as they have been forgotten. Ivy now tries to make its way inside, and covers the exterior of the home. With nobody to stop it, nature will always reclaim its space.

As I stood in the silence capturing these images, the summer breeze fluttered in through an open window, stirring dust from a table top and a few scattered leaves across the stone floor; almost like their spirits were visiting together carried in on the wind.

This was definitely one of the most interesting abandoned home explores of last year. Not only was so much left behind to help piece so many stories together, but the architecture of this home was truly a sight to see. In many ways, it reminded me of the Stan Hywet Hall in Akron, Ohio. As far as I’ve been able to find, it was not designed by the same person. Surely they took inspiration either from him, or from the same style of English country homes he had been inspired by. 

It’s always difficult to capture places like this, not just because of the sadness of the situation, or the fact that I become overwhelmed trying to decide on angles to capture the architecture, but also because there are so many details left behind, from mail, to letters and notes. Stacks of family photos from vacations, documents and all, scattered throughout the home. I do my best not to move or disturb anything as I make my way through, but also do my best to focus on as many of the smaller details I can to document them and save the stories to be shared.

I had thought previously it would be unlikely that this home would be saved, but it seems that someone has purchased it, and has big plans to restore the home and make use of it.

Check out the short video of this abandoned home below: