Fairhaven Find Part 2

I decided I wanted to get a few shots of the old Fairhaven building - Reid Boiler Works - from the lower level near the railroad tracks and happily froze my fingers off one afternoon not too long ago and wandered down to the beach to get a better view.

Its just a gorgeous building - and after doing some web research on the place, I found an article about it - where it talks about a big fire back in 1904 that destroyed most of the original building. I believe they are hoping to restore some of this building and keep it from completely falling apart to save some small bit of history for this town - seems to me that far too many historical buildings are getting taken out and replaced with more condos every day :(

I really hope they do fix it up enough to let people inside someday - Id love to get in there for just one minute! (ok, I could probably spend an entire day in there if I could get inside! shoosh...)

*sigh* I'll just keep dreaming...

Fairhaven Find!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took our daughter out for a walk down by Boulevard Park and walked up the path from Fairhaven to the Crysalis Spa area of the Boardwalk - where I have been wanting to get some pictures of this building for a very long time.


The front of the building at the street level is surrounded by...guess what?? - BLACKBERRY BUSHES of course! (because everything old and falling apart and rusty and fun to photograph is always always ALWAYS surrounded by the evil bush of doom...*shakes fist*) and there is no way at all to get inside this place - some old fellow came out of the office to holler at me when I went back later that week to try to peek inside through the giant green door...with a "Dont even think about it..." - and I actually asked if they would ever do a tour or let me do photo shoots inside if I paid the insurance and he laughed and told me a flat out "NO." - apparently its pretty dangerous in there...


So I wandered around the side of the building and found a little path that would take me back around...through the blackberry bushes (of course) - and I couldnt help but notice the post looked quite upset at me as I passed it.

But once I got through the thicket and around the corner, I found a great wall full of thoughts, rust and color. It made my scritched up leg all worth it. ;)



To the right of the painted door/wall - there was a nice little corner nook where It looks like people may be sheltering themselves from the weather from time to time. There was a path through the thicket and a mossy old board propped up to hide behind back there....

And it appears that whoever lives back there, is also a lover of Rust! I was so excited to find this pipe with "Love" scrawled across it - though my first initial reaction was "wow...I hope someone didnt get themselves smacked in the head with this thing ...all in the name of love" - ;)
There were tiny bits of bolts, metal fragments, and old nails and railroad spikes strewn all over the place alongside the building - Im guessing its probably not a great idea to eat any of the berries growing from that soil or drink any water that might run near there - looks to me like the soil was full of copper and rusty metals - but boy was it perty!

Ill have to go back in the summer and meet some of the homeless people living down there - I saw quite a few tents and makeshift homes in that area and while my friend Caiti and I were out shooting photos of this place, we met "Frog" - who when I asked him if he needed anything as we passed his tent propped up under an old boat frame - said "Nothing really - but a nice smile and conversation would be great."

Ill be back to chat with him soon - maybe he will let me take his photograph...

Art house

I've been driving past this house for weeks now - eager to get into the place... but its location makes it near impossible to get in to without someone seeing you sneak past the posted "No Trespassing" signs on the shed at the entrance of the driveway ...so I decided I'd go early in the morning on a Saturday when the neighbors were sure to still be asleep and I could do my "Tiny little ninja" impression and get inside before anyone noticed...

I made my way past the shed and spotted various things laying about in the yard - a couch and a matress as well as a couple of old broken down cars that were being consumed by black berry bushes (WHAT IS IT with blackberry bushes devouring old abandoned houses/cars/sheds/anything interesting that I might want to take photos of ...anyway??)

After getting up enough nerve to push the door open - I stepped into the kitchen - the sink was missing, but there were alot of dishes smashed up on the floor, more garbage than Id have liked to be stepping in and a lovely "there's something in that icebox that you probably dont want to know about" smell - so I didnt stick around too long in the kitchen and moved to the hall where the bathroom was located.


Quite frankly, I was half expecting alot worse after seeing the state of the kitchen but thankfully there was no "You should probably be wearing a gas mask" smell coming from anywhere in the bathroom and so I snapped a few pictures, a self portrait and took a few minutes looking at the drawings on the wall before I went back further into the house.

I was starting to get a little disappointed - the last house I was in had all of that amazing graffitti covering the walls and ceilings and I was really hoping for some of the same in this one but so far I hadnt seen much except for a pencil drawing on the wall of the bathroom...



I started to get a little excited when I rounded the corner and found what looks to be the main living area of the house. I saw a few drawings and paintings on the wall and snapped a few pictures but was no where near prepared for what I would see when I stepped completely into the room.




This wasnt graffitti - it was a full blown painting. I couldnt believe the detail, the thought put into each portion of the artwork. I actually had to sit down for a few minutes and just sit and look at it all. Someone spent hours and hours creating these murals - I cant believe they are just rotting away now. Where did these people go? Why is no one living here anymore?

I found more penciled in drawings that never got to experience the joy of completion - and realized I had been in the house for alot longer than I had intended (I had no idea I was stepping into an art gallery) - and still had the entire upstairs to explore...


but as I placed my foot onto the first step - it dawned on me that I might very well end up startling some homeless guy awake at 8:30am on a Saturday morning and could end up in a situation that might not end so well...(The house is near a homeless camp) so I decided maybe it wasnt such a good idea to go upstairs without having someone else there with me - but I plan to go back with my new sharper lens and get better detailed shots of the murals. (any one volunteer to be my buddy?? ;) ahem)

You know you want to go inside.... ;)

Industrial adventure

I went out to test out my new camera this weekend - in search of old houses and rusty things. I found a few houses but nothing that really struck me so I headed home and took the long way to avoid the mall and freeway traffic...and found myself over in the industrial area off of Bakerview Spur.

I found a lovely little corner full of rust and textures that made me go weak in the knees. (We've already established that Im a little odd that way...put a shiney diamond ring in front of me and tell me its all mine...and Ill go "oh...its shiney...thats nice" or put me in front of a broken down cement mixer or an abandoned house and tell me its all mine for the next hour and Ill squeal and jump up and down for 10 minutes before running around snapping pictures...)

There were so many different colors, shapes, lines, texures...."things" to photograph in just a 12'x30' area that I probably could have spent a good 2 hours there with my camera but my tummy was rumbling at me for food and so I snapped a few pictures and got ready to head for home - then realized I had missed a few things and popped in my second memory card to get a few more shots.

I think the fellows down the road at Les Schwab thought I was either A) nuts B) going to bust out a spray paint can and start tagging things or C) nuts...because they kept standing around in groups of 3-4 watching me weaving in and out of the equipment laying about. I dont think they figured out I had a camera until after about 10 minutes of watching me croutching down, bending over and making hand motions. ;) (I get all excited when I find things like this and forget that people can actually see me pointing and squeeling at things)

There is just something about old pipes in a large pile that Im drawn to every time I see them. Im not really sure what it is - but its like "Jen Nip" (catnip) - I cant resist it...I may possibly even purr at times without realizing it... ;) so dont be alarmed if you ever find yourself in my company and we pass a construction site and I start making weird noises....its not the hunky shirtless men with muscles - its all those wonderful pipes laying around in the work zone!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I love rust!

Jack Attack

This is an old house off the freeway by the mall that Ive been wanting to get photos of for years - and I never could because:
A) its at the end of a street that has houses all around it and theres no where to park where I wont get spotted.
B) the house up until friday was surrounded by 10 years worth of blackberry bushes that were literally 10-12 feet high and about 20 feet deep.
C) theres a creepy old man that lives next door and sits on his porch waiting for "rotten teenagers" to come and try to get into the old house and vandalize it.

So - this morning I got up early in hopes the C (creepy old guy) would still be sleeping and I might finally be able to take photos of the place now that the construction crew that plans to demolish the place tore down all the blackberry bushes so I could get near the thing...but lo and behold, Old C was sitting out on his porch enjoying his morning cup of coffee and watched me wander up the street and start taking pictures of the house.

I stepped foot into the dirt where the berry bushes used to thrive and he stood up, balled his fists up, shook one at me and hollered at me - not really sure what it was that he said, as Im pretty sure it was some kind of Grumpy old guy language that Im not fluent in - so he stomped over to where I was standing and raised his eyebrow at me, crossed his arms and said "yer not thinking of trying to get in that old house now are you?" and I shyly told him "no...I just like taking pictures of broken down, rusty, falling apart things...sometimes...."

He raised his eyebrow even further up onto his forehead (I swear...it was like 3 inches higher than it normally was...) and then broke out in a big old toothless grin, unfolded his arms, put his hands into his pockets and said with a laugh "well in that case, you could just take pictures of me - Im broken down and rusty...and at least I wont letcha fall through a rotted floor and getcha killed!"

We introduced ourselves (his name was Jack) and shook hands and I asked how long the house had been there and he said he wasnt sure but hed been there at his house for over 15 years and it was there when he moved in. I convinced him I wouldnt try to go inside but asked if he thought it would be ok if I went around the backside and got a picture from there - he told me as long as he could still see me, he wouldnt send his wife after me with a rolling pin.

I got the raised eyebrow again until I promised not to get to close to it - then he walked back to his porch, picked up his cup and watched me until I got to my car. He waved as I left and the last thing I saw as I passed his driveway was him standing with his hands in his pants pocket, shaking his head.

So - I didnt go in...but I did finally get to get some pictures of it. Just wished they hadnt boarded it up with new plywood...it was so dreamy when it still had all of its old broken windows and dangly doors...*sigh*