The house on the hill...

So - I went out this weekend and found myself standing at the edge of a property out near the local mall that I had seen from the freeway a few weeks back and decided it was high time I got inside there to photograph it....though I probably should have taken a buddy with me - as once I got inside, I found evidence of habitation via "Will work for food" and "Hungry..anything helps" signs laying about in the bedroom upstairs, with a few other personal items next to the matress on the floor - I just didnt have the heart to photograph those things - but the rest of the place was free game and luckily no one was hiding in the basement to murder me :D Thats always a plus!

The front door was missing and the screen door was broken...it was just asking me to come in... ;)

I stepped into the house very carefully - listening for voices or sounds of people lurking (what DO people sound like when they lurk anyway?? *lurk lurk lurk...*) but all I could hear was the wind rustling the bushes up against the siding so I started taking pictures. This Im guessing was the living room at one time - now home to a soul that would apparently love to paint over the green with a lovely shade of purple paint...




There was plenty of broken glass around to step on too - and I was thankful I had worn my thicker soled boots. I think alot of people have enjoyed throwing rocks at this old house from time to time - as I dont believe I found a single window in the place without some kind of hole in it.


To the left in a smaller room that might have been a bedroom or maybe an additional sitting room, was the only piece of furniture I could find in the place, except for the matress upstairs - sitting facing the window, watching the freeway. With all the accidents that happen right about there, Im going to guess its like watching an episode of "Worlds craziest videos" or "Cops" only in real time - and close enough to hear the tires screeching and the metal bending...


Its been "loved" on alot - as you can see.

From the living room you enter the kitchen to access the bathroom and the entrance to the upstairs bedrooms (there were 2 upstairs) - as well as the back porch where the entrance to the basement lies. I think the house had the same wallpaper in the kitchen that my great grandmother had in hers once upon a time ago...roosters and teapots and things...I had a few "moments" while standing there - thinking about the numerous mason jars filled with canned beets and beans, and more Jam than I could ever imagine anyone possibly ever using in a lifetime, let alone one summer... but thats another story...

This is the view from the kitchen out to the front room.

I was about to step into the bathroom to get some pictures of the old washtub - but it smelled like something died in there - so I figured it would be my luck to turn the corner and find myself staring down some old dead guy sitting on the toilet or something so I decided Id rather go upstairs instead and leave the discovery to someone else...(yeah yeah - too many CSI's again)


I headed up the stairs and felt a little prick of fear run down my spine as I realized I was alone and there could be someone hiding up there - but I made my way up quietly and used what little ninja skills I have obtained from my 8 year old son - and luckily I didnt need to use my "Chuck Norris Round House Kick" on anyone (because let me tell you - its a mean mean round house kick...ok its not, I threw my hip out last time I tried...but THEY wouldnt know that!!)



I found all of the windows up there busted out - and evidence of someone having been hiding from the weather there recently - and felt like I would be invading their privacy (what little they have left in the world) - so I just took a few pictures of the windows, stepped around the various photos and clothing laying around, and tried to get that chunk of lead feeling in my gut to go away as I noticed the 4 different cardboard signs laying around - each with a different plea for help...So I headed back downstairs in search of the basement...



No monsters down there either (thankfully) but I did find some interesting duct work and fun painted animal things on the walls - maybe it had been a playroom at one point...

Im wondering if maybe that was their version of Eeyore...He seems quite content being green though - I think it suits him well. :)

Oddly there wasnt much rust down there - nor alot of mold growth even though it was damp and the windows were all busted out. I was happy to find a few spots of brown on the heat ducts and some old junk in the corner though the light down there was next to nill - and my camera didnt get very crisp images of them.

After my adventures in the basement were finished, I headed back up the stairs and noticed a little shed out back behind the house...

Ill be posting those next. ;)