Tucked away in the middle of some trees with many of the window shutters sealed tight, this old house had quite the atmosphere. A certain sense of darkness in more ways than one, particularly with large photos and paintings of long dead family members, and possibly former residents, always looking on.
Unusually, the calendars upstairs and downstairs differed considerably, and what was once more than likely a multi-generation household, clearly ended up with just the downstairs rooms being used. Presumably by a lone elderly person. The setup and stuff left behind also suggestive of someone who was quite possibly bedridden, and almost certainly receiving medical care. Factors that could also help explain some of the incredibly dated technology found on the same floor despite the last calendar being from 2015.
All that, however, is speculation and educated guesswork at best. What the true story is, and who those people were, will more than likely remain unknown. The photos below then are mere records of far more important moments now forever lost.
Sean says
These are all awesome but that old tv. Wow!
Lee says
Thanks a lot, and yes, that TV is something else.
Denise says
This makes me so sad. All those possessions and pictures………… 🙁
Lee says
Yeah, there’s always a very definite sense of sadness in these places. Lives lived and lost…
DLKR says
Would love to buy it and hire the world’s best professionals to carefully restore everything to pristine condition and re-open it as a museum. I wonder if it’s haunted!
Lee says
It certainly felt like a museum in some respects. That TV is in such good condition too considering how old it must be.
I personally don’t believe there are such things as ghosts, but for anyone who does, I’m sure being in the dark, and with those faces looking on, it’d be a bit unsettling to say the least.
cdilla says
A transient last echo of lives gone by. Why do such things resonate so with total strangers.
Thing learned because of this post – White Line Fever has at least three meanings/causes the lines on a highway, as in the Bertie Higgins song featured on those tapes, the lines on an athletics track, and, the only one I prevously knew courtesy of Lemmy and Motorhead, a refrence to drug use.
Typed whilst listening to Key Lago – another song on that tape.
Lee says
I know eh? My guess is it’s the personal nature of so much of what’s left behind. Plus of course the very clear reminder of our own mortality.
Ah, the modern world. They had only mix-tapes, we now have pretty much every song imaginable at the touch of a button.
Richard says
The dolls are pretty impressive. The photos of the people are quite old…and kinda spooky.
How sad that what was probably once a nice home has come to this.
Lee says
Yes, it must have been quite something back in the day. First time I’ve found a house with a library in it that’s for sure. That was a huge surprise. But yeah, those faces looking on were a little bit of a shock in the torch light.
Mike says
Pretty cool to see a dubbed tape of Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” in amongst the possessions! The thought of those songs playing adds a bit of color to this dark and shadowed home.
Lee says
I know eh? Records and tapes are always nice to find, but knowing the songs adds so much more as you can hear it in your head, just like it would have once been heard throughout the house.
john says
The faces are not only looking on but precariously looking down and the group photos of people outside seem to be .. actually outside?
The Casio-Mini looks so clean (in contrast to the box) and neatly placed at right angles to the boards like a product shot.
It’s all so nicely lit, even down to the cats’ shadows!
Lee says
Yeah, those photos and paintings looking down are something else.
The photos were in the entrance, but the Casio-Mini I have to confess I took out of the box. Couldn’t believe it had been there unopened all those years, but it had. Still had the original batteries in the box too. With hindsight I really should have tried to put them in and turn it on…
Cheers. It’s amazing what a couple of phone torches and lots of awkward arm positions can achieve!
john says
Thanks! That explains the shiny calculator and placement. The batteries were probably not very long life and saved you from searching for that special key that plays a little melody (Dentaku – Kraftwerk).
The torches did well!
Lee says
Haha, that’s very true. Cheers. Very much a workaround, but happy with what we managed to get.
Damien says
These are phenomenal Lee. A set designer’s dream. One of Ozu’s films could easily have been set within these walls. Makes one wonder if the younger of the last occupant/s (the creator of the mix tapes) chose to not return or had their life unexpectedly interrupted or cut short while living elsewhere in the country such as Kobe during the quake.
Lee says
Thank you very much. The lack of natural light in some of the rooms was challenging, but the artificial lighting may have actually added to the atmosphere.
There are so many possibilities. One of the reason why I find these places so fascinating. We will almost certainly never know the answers, but it doesn’t stop us from speculating.