I generally, as a rule, don't explore houses. After a very bad incident in Belgium a few years ago I swore off doing them because they only ever seemed to cause me more hassle than they were worth. I disliked the thought of exploring a house so much I wouldn't even step foot inside one in Luxembourg on my last trip to the continent in 2014. A year or so ago I was dragged into exploring an abandoned farm house in America and I was on edge the entire time and hated every second of the fifteen minutes I spent inside. A house has to be something very special for it to be put on my exploring radar, and this one certainly is that.

This house was last inhabited five years ago by an elderly lady. She had lived there with her husband for most of their married lives until he died, and she carried on living there alone. The neighbours would bring her food and help her, until one day she attacked one of them so they stopped their visits and she became a recluse. She never left the house, as she didn't want the neighbours to see how ashamed she was. In 2012 she suffered a stroke which caused her to fall down the stairs, she was taken to hospital and later died there and the house has been empty ever since.

Entering the house we headed upstairs to the attic to get our gear out. The windows in the attic at either end of the house look straight into the neighbouring properties and there were people up and about already so we didn't spend too long up there for fear of a neighbour spotting our movement through the windows. So we headed down to the bedrooms, these were the only rooms that looked to have had any kind of 'rummaging', there was a bit of mess but not too much. But it was the ground floor where things really went to the next level. It was like stepping into a totally untouched 1970s timewarp. Nothing had been rearranged or gone through. Everything was neat and intact, the cupboards full of belongings were shut and there was a beautiful lack of 'staged' shots. The couple who lived here obviously bought matching sets of everything - the metal and glass cabinets in the living room and dining room matched, the dining table and chairs matched the side board and there was an amazing massive sofa with matching chairs.

Houses leave me with strange feelings. In houses abandoned due to circumstances like that it is somebody's entire life you are bearing witness to, the aggregate of all their years of existence left behind. This particular house certainly has a pervasive sadness about it, almost a melancholic feel as you look around. I can only hope that it is bought and loved once again.

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I don't know if this place has made me like exploring houses again proper, but it's sometimes good to do things you'd never normally make the effort to do.

Great post. I share your dislike of exploring houses (and apartments), for the reasons that

1.) i live in Texas, people like guns and we have castle law.
2.) people usually dont really ever completely abandon apartments.

Houses are my favorite. This place looks gorgeous.

Amazing find bud!! I hope this gets you into doing houses more.

I only started exploring houses earlier this year. The feeling of being inside the more intact ones is so completely different from any other type of building I've explored.

See mookster?
Now you're all creepd out...
You even got me creeped out!
Bad. Stay out of houses.

Nice find and shoot

Enjoyed your intro. Cant help but wonder what happened in a house to make you dislike exploring them? Anyways, Great job on these! I noticed something that intrigued me. The headboard to the bed was covered by a sheet!? and the back to a chair is covered #8 Wonder what purpose this served? Interesting that the cabinets in the kitchen are being supported by a jack, Pic 25. The shots with the baby carriage are really cool. Sad house, Nice pics!

Damn, that Hammond organ is to die for! I don't usually say this, but I really hope someone saves that beauty before it rots away or gets smashed by assholes.

Beautiful find, and major props for stepping outside your comfort zone. Houses that aren't completely bombed out make me nervous too, but recent experience shown that finding and exploring the right one can be extremely rewarding.

Posted by MisUnderstood! Cant help but wonder what happened in a house to make you dislike exploring them?

A few years ago I explored an abandoned farmhouse in Belgium, the enraged farmer who lived next door came inside and attacked me and my friend with a large wooden pole, ran us out the house and once outside we realised his wife was busy slashing our car tyres, and whilst waiting for the police to turn up a shotgun was fired towards us.

Kind of put me off houses ever since.

Posted by MisUnderstood! Enjoyed your intro. Cant help but wonder what happened in a house to make you dislike exploring them?

It's a lot more personal, almost invasive. Even if their heirs leave it decrepit, there are memories and the pervasive feeling that you are going through somebody else's underwear drawer (figuratively, I hope).

I do it, but that's because I live in an area with lots of foreclosed/foreign investment bought properties that are all condemned to be subdivided. As mooks put it, rural environments are a different story.

Posted by mookster A few years ago I explored an abandoned farmhouse in Belgium, the enraged farmer who lived next door came inside and attacked me and my friend with a large wooden pole, ran us out the house and once outside we realised his wife was busy slashing our car tyres, and whilst waiting for the police to turn up a shotgun was fired towards us. Kind of put me off houses ever since.

That's like Texas.

Posted by mookster A few years ago I explored an abandoned farmhouse in Belgium, the enraged farmer who lived next door came inside and attacked me and my friend with a large wooden pole, ran us out the house and once outside we realised his wife was busy slashing our car tyres, and whilst waiting for the police to turn up a shotgun was fired towards us. Kind of put me off houses ever since.

Thats a GOOD reason! WOW! 0_0 It DOES sound like Tx. Guess i would of jumped in my car and ruined it driving like the wind on flat tires.

Great set and stories!

I used to do more houses as a teenager, but in general, they were way, way, way abandoned. The first several waves of vandals and scavengers had already been through.

With that said, I am amazed at how kept up the place looks in most of these shots. If you had said a select few of these were burglary pictures, I would totally believe it.

It has been coming up in a few recent photography conversations how different an experience abandoned homes are compared to abandoned factories and such. I think this set exemplifies the dramatic tonal difference between public and private abandoned spaces.

Posted by mookster A few years ago I explored an abandoned farmhouse in Belgium, the enraged farmer who lived next door came inside and attacked me and my friend with a large wooden pole, ran us out the house and once outside we realised his wife was busy slashing our car tyres, and whilst waiting for the police to turn up a shotgun was fired towards us. Kind of put me off houses ever since.

Holy Crap !!

No bloody doubt you were put off houses with that kind of experience !!