"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Once there was a house

that welcomed everyone in by the road side............

it's charm still hanging on as best it can.........

Through this front door, guest would be welcome

to come sit by the fire

and to stay for supper

and later in the afternoon, gather round the piano to sing..........

The old car that once carried the family members,


sleeps in rust out by the old mesquite tree.............

There's not much left to this old house................

or of the family that once lived there...........
 
These photos were taken on a road trip last week as I was out and about.........searching and picking.
I cannot resist, pulling over to an old house that seem to call out.........and to stop by a place of rest
and  read the names of those who have gone on .
How about you?
Do you love to explore abandoned and forgotten places?
I would love to hear!
 


17 comments:

Mary A said...

Alongside a two lane hiway, many miles outside of the nearest town, stands a small tombstone. Hiway workers, unwilling to cover up the evidence of a tiny life cut short, built a white picket fence to embrace the small pioneer grave. The name has long since weathered away except the word "baby." So poignant. I stop every time I pass. Mary A

KathyB. said...

This post makes me a little sad. You can see it was designed with the comfort of a family in mind, and the details in the siding show someone once cared. There had been music in that home and the hearth must have warmed many over the years.

How did it come to sit vacant and uncared for? What family misfortune caused this? What dreams and hopes were dashed when the home was abandoned?

Reminds me of the Bible verse about all our earthly possessions are but temporary, the moths, rust, and decay win on earth. Fortunately, our God has a place for us in eternity that is forever perfect , because of His Son, Jesus.

Beautiful pictures Kathleen.

Tami said...

That is an amazing find.

I bet you could spend hours there dreaming of the life that "was". So much detail captured in your pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Betty Lou said...

The pictures of this once beautiful old home break my heart. My father in law would pass a house like this along the road and say, " that was once someone's dream."

Faith said...

This makes me sad..a once thriving and beautiful farmhome, abandoned no family to care for it, then there is me & my family who would love to find a jewel who needs a family to care for it. A job would be helfpful...as week keep searching...ahhh maybe someday. It still is a beautiful farmhome...thank you for sharing.

Connie said...

Like you, when I see a house like this, I think about those who once lived there and what their lives must have been like. The stories those houses could tell if only they could speak. Wonderful post, Kathleen! Happy Sunday to you!

Karen said...

I'm so glad you showed these pictures, I think old places are fascinating! There is a similar house just down the road from us, I may borrow your idea and take pictures of it for my blog. It was fun taking a "tour" of the old house!

IanH said...

Would I like to rebuild that car!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Kathleen, your post strike a chord with me as I have also posted about abandoned homes in and around where we now live. This is largely a rural agricultural locale. We have seen many similar once-proud family homesteads left to simply decay and fall down. It also makes me wonder why and how, perhaps the last family members passed on or moved away and there was no one left to care for things once held dear.

magnoliasntea said...

I enjoyed the photos of that once-grand little castle. I'd love to have seen it in its prime.
Have a wonderful week!

Lady Jane said...

Oh yes I do. You are lucky to have stumbled upon this one it really does tell a story.

lil red hen said...

So sad ....

Kelly said...

Those old places really tell a story. I live across from a cemetery. I have always been drawn to them. True local history. How about that old piano. I love the front door and windows. How cool to go back into the past.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

One of the most favorite things my sister and I used to do was explore an old "home place", long abandoned on our grandparents' farm. We treasured each and every fragment we found there (and drug each and every one back to our grandparents' house).

Stickhorsecowgirls said...

There's an old cemetery on the outskirts of town of Old Washington, AR. I have been there several times and it's almost like I can feel the sorrow there. Very, strange, and yet beautiful in a way.

Mini said...

I can't stop wondering who might have lived there and why it was abandoned...

Lee Prairie Designs said...

We always enjoy road trips the back road way!

Your pictures are delightful full of past history, memories, stories and families.

Thank you, Carolyn