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 FireworksOrStars
   
Location: New Orleans via Shreveport, Louisiana
Gender: Female
 |  |  | Who left the door open?
< on 11/14/2007 8:52 PM >
|  | | | This is probably the only time you'll see me disappointed over the fact that I arrived at a location and a door was wide open, mainly because I never even thought of this place as an abandonment until yesterday.
I went up to the northern part of the parish, near Arkansas, with two friends to photograph two of my favorite places. While in the area I decided to drop by my best friend Kate's grandmother's old house to get a photo of the exterior in the evening sun. The house has been empty since her grandmother died several years ago, and it's fallen into a state of disrepair. When we arrived, we saw that the screen door to the side porch had been broken in several places. We ventured up onto the porch (all the while dodging the the wasps that have taken up residence in great numbers over the past few years) and found one of the French doors on the side wide open.
We went inside to see if whoever broke in had done any damage. The family had cleared out most of her grandmother's belongings over a year ago, so there wouldn't have been much to steal.
We first went upstairs, where we found that some of the glass and wood in the door to the balcony had been broken out. The door was still closed and locked.
There were a couple of beer cans on the floor in a few rooms, and a crystal ashtray had been broken (the glass left scattered around, which we picked up and later put in the downstairs trash can). For the most part, that was the only damage upstairs.
While up there we did find several years worth of National Geographic magazines stacked in a corner of one room.
In another room, the top half of a window had been left open. I had planned to close it, but apparently it had been open long enough and caused enough water damaged that when I stepped inside, the floor sank a few inches and groooaaaaned. I don't think I've ever moved backwards so fast. It didn't do that the last time I was there (the window had been closed then). 
In another upstairs room, there had once been wallpaper on the ceiling (don't ask, I don't know). It was hanging down in sheets, only attached in just enough places that it wasn't quite yet all on the floor. I'm thinking this was probably just the work of time, not of the jackasses who messed up everything else. The wallpaper on the walls was also peeling off like in so many other rooms.
The wallpaper in this house is some of the weirdest stuff I've ever seen. I could probably do an entire series on it. It goes from tasteful, old-style, small floral prints in some rooms to large, garish, tacky prints in odd colors in others.
We went back downstairs, where we found that the outside door to the kitchen had been completely busted out. The door was nowhere in sight, but there were wood splinters everywhere and marks on the frame where the hinges had torn off. Whoever did it obviously ignored the all-too-polite note left taped to a cabinet.
Also in the kitchen we found a priceless masterpiece, probably done by Kate's brother (I don't think Kate's that talented, haha). Sadly, there was no name on it anywhere, so I'm not completely sure which of the grandchildren actually did it.
Thanks to getting sidetracked by the open door, I don't have the exterior shot I originally went there to take. By the time we got back outside the sun had gone behind the trees and thrown a big shadow over the house. We were also more concerned about getting back to civilization (and, thus, cell phone service) so we could call Kate and give her a heads up on the break-in. Her brother and boyfriend are supposed to head up to the house today to board up the broken out doors so everything won't get rained on.
Hopefully the remoteness of this location will keep break-ins to a minimum, though having seen several other locations even more remote than this, I know that's really just wishful thinking.
http://www.flickr....arlsieshaver/sets/ |
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Wiccan
   
Location: Hamilton Ontario
Gender: Female
| | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 1 on 11/14/2007 9:38 PM >
| | | | Thanks for sharing this,I imagine that it must really suck when you have a somewhat personal attachment for the place.
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ShatteredAutumn
Location: Oklahoma
Gender: Female
| | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 2 on 11/14/2007 10:49 PM >
| | | | Posted by FireworksOrStars
Hopefully the remoteness of this location will keep break-ins to a minimum, though having seen several other locations even more remote than this, I know that's really just wishful thinking.
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Put some land mines in the yard, that will keep people out. That or booby trap the house everywhere.
Oh and, do you plan on going back? Some pictures of the rooms would be nice. I like to see big open empy rooms.
[last edit 11/14/2007 10:51 PM by ShatteredAutumn - edited 1 times]
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goldenmoon
Location: over the rainbow, QC
Gender: Female
| | | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 3 on 11/15/2007 2:57 AM >
| | | | not cool.
i would love more of those wallpaper pics sweet pretty please. they're beautiful.
daughter of chaos |
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Happiedaze
Location: Galveston Area, TX
Gender: Female
| |  | | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 4 on 11/15/2007 4:19 AM >
| | | | Wow.. awesome pictures, great write up... I enjoyed this thread. Good job 
'Our plans are all laid out,
take all these unmarked roads,
we blaze the trails to places no one goes, yeah!' -Rise Against |
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istakebroad
Location: Arkansas
Gender: Male
| |  |  | | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 5 on 11/15/2007 2:54 PM >
| | | | Wonderful story to accompany the pictures. Sorry to hear about the break-in, though.
War is an intergalactic language. We're all fluent, but some of us speak it natively. |
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Lord
above and beyond
| | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 6 on 11/15/2007 4:17 PM >
| | | | Posted by FireworksOrStars
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they were probably hiding in the cabinet and wrote that note while you were looking around
I will defeat that which was once untouchable only so that I may now move on |
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FireworksOrStars
Location: New Orleans via Shreveport, Louisiana
Gender: Female
| | | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 7 on 11/15/2007 7:08 PM >
| | | | Thanks guys.
goldenmoon: I will certainly take more wallpaper pics next time I'm there.
Lord: Here I was thinking that rustling sound was just mice... I think I could take 'em.  Those are some pretty small cabinets. They'd have to be about knee-height on me to fit (and I'm pretty darn short).
http://www.flickr....arlsieshaver/sets/ |
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blackhawk
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control
UER newbie
| | | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 8 on 11/20/2007 9:15 AM >
| | | | Interesting shots of a forgotten life... just be careful when shooting residential locations especially if they were recently B&Eed.
Walk softly and carry a big camera
Welcome to UER
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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FireworksOrStars
Location: New Orleans via Shreveport, Louisiana
Gender: Female
| | | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 9 on 11/20/2007 11:42 PM >
| | | | Posted by blackhawk
Interesting shots of a forgotten life... just be careful when shooting residential locations especially if they were recently B&Eed.
Walk softly and carry a big camera
Welcome to UER
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No worries, a couple of big cameras and a big tripod are always at hand. Having accidentally whacked myself in the face with my D80 and 80-200mm attached, I feel pretty safe with it, haha. In all seriousness, we did peer into the windows on the ground floor and hung out by the door for a while before venturing further in, to make sure no one was around. We certainly didn't want to be caught way out in the boonies with no cell phone reception and an angry transient.
http://www.flickr....arlsieshaver/sets/ |
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blackhawk
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control
UER newbie
| | | Re: Who left the door open?
<Reply # 10 on 11/21/2007 2:48 AM >
| | | | Posted by FireworksOrStars
No worries, a couple of big cameras and a big tripod are always at hand. Having accidentally whacked myself in the face with my D80 and 80-200mm attached, I feel pretty safe with it, haha. In all seriousness, we did peer into the windows on the ground floor and hung out by the door for a while before venturing further in, to make sure no one was around. We certainly didn't want to be caught way out in the boonies with no cell phone reception and an angry transient.
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In many places squatters have the same legal rights as a home owner; you would be the intruder. If someone inside or outside a house observes your peering in, the results could be quit nasty for you.
I would try to avoid these types of confrontations at all costs
Cops are generally easy to deal with as long as you don't test their sensibilities. The law places a very high value on a man's house and his right to privacy.
It's best to avoid residential dwellings for the most part.
Of coarse some abandoned ones are interesting, and not a problem to explore.
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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