Saturday, October 27, 2012

If Walls Could Talk

Oftentimes while driving around, my attention is drawn to any old and deteriorating building or house I see.   A wave of sadness overcomes me when I think about how these structures were once teeming with life and activity and are now abandoned and forgotten, except perhaps for anyone still living who has a personal memory associated with them. 

An old general store building where neighbors once met to exchange news, talk about the weather and buy what meager goods they could afford.

This store was operated for many years by a man, and then his son, until about 8 years ago. Here you could buy food,  animal feed, electrical hardware and the like, tools and gasoline. They also prepared food and had "eat-in" tables. It was a "gathering place" where friends met friends.
This now abandoned general store has a personal association. It was built and operated by a great-uncle. And in later years, owned and operated by one of my uncles and then another. It was once a place where people filled their automobiles with gasoline, bought snacks and even bought their weekly provisions. 

Beautiful old brick work on the above building.


This old house is still occupied by 86-year-old Doris, who moved there in 1936, when she was 10 years old. She told me this when I knocked on her door a few days ago and asked permission to photograph her house.

This particular house holds special significance for me because it was here my father's family lived when he and my mother met. She tells the following story: She and one of her sisters and two of their friends heard the family that had moved into the house had four good-looking young men, so off they went to meet them (my mother lived just a short distance down the road). Upon being invited in and introduced to the boys, my mother said she looked at one and said to herself, "that one is mine." And sure enough, they began dating and eventually were married.

The beautiful old rock fireplace on the above house. Doris told me my father's family moved out one morning and her family moved in the same afternoon. She said there was a low fire still burning in the fireplace when they arrived. I wonder what was talked about as families sat around the fire on cold winter nights.

The entire front yard is covered with acorns from the huge oak tree, below, which grows alongside the road. 

I stood and stared at this old tree and wondered if my dad and his brothers had climbed this tree when they were boys. Did they do battle with the abundance of acorns that covered the ground?

Yet another old house -- this one unoccupied - with a special memory, as this is the  place my father's family moved into after vacating the one above. It runs deep and contains many rooms, certainly needed to accommodate the large family. There would have been 11 people living here in 1936: Parents, 8 children, 1 grandchild. My father walked 3.1 miles each way twice a week to see my mother, unless he was lucky enough to catch a ride with someone.

The ivy-covered fireplace on the above house. Houses like this hold  secrets from past generations; the walls within absorbed the joys, the laughter, but also the trials and tribulations of those whom they sheltered.

Our present day society prefers the new, the shiny, the modern look of affluence. Do you see beauty in old or abandoned buildings or consider them  an eyesore? Do you ever try to imagine the people who once occupied the buildings and what their lives were like?


12 comments:

  1. I love old semi run-down buildings. And stories about your mother. So this was fun for me to read. I think of all the fun of climbing that oak tree and making tea cups for dolls out of the tops of the acorns. And playing games by the fire. When you have a big family, like your father did, you can always find someone to play with. Neat!

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    1. Both my parents were from large families, eight children each. So we always had tons of relatives around, and lots of cousins to play with as kids. I think acorns are so pretty, and very useful in a child's playhouse.

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  2. I love the old houses, trees, rocks and brickwork. So glad you are doing this to keep the memories going. I think Mother is really, really enjoying all these stories and it delights her to talk of these old things. In a few years, all these things will be gone and no one to remember, which is sad. Great post!!!

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    1. I am really surprised most of the old structures have survived, as most of them are in such bad shape. Even sadder than seeing an old deteriorated building is to see only an old chimney left standing and knowing it was attached to house now long gone.

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  3. Sanda, you are so good in telling stories and placing pictures.
    I never guessed there are still old, empty houses around over there. Sure, I´ve seen some, but those were in movies..
    We don´t have very many abandoned houses here, but the ones I have seen, are looking very sad.
    I´m disturbed more about the newer ones, which mostly look horrible. Just wondering who actually allowed them to be built and why!

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    1. I think you have to get into rural areas deep into the countryside to see old deteriorated buildings still standing. Many are enclosed in what is now pastures and you might see the old houses used to store hay or other supplies/equipment. Seems many of the new structures are so shoddily built they won't last as long as the old ones.

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  4. Wonderful pictures and story. I really like old buildings and if I can find out even a bit about their history so much the better. There aren't too many abandoned structures here by the Bay - property is too valuable so the old is either remodeled or torn down and replaced with new. There are some old places off the back roads in the mountains tho.

    Darla

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    1. I see your point about property being much too valuable for an old decaying building to remain. But out here in the country there is so much open land and acreage is not nearly so valuable as it is in a popular area such as yours.

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  5. My weakness - old abandoned or neglected buildings!I just want to drive around with my pruners, paint buckets, and fix them up!! The saddest is one of the buildings you showed, previously owned by my parents, that I have tried to buy just so I could restore it.
    A building that once had so much life in it is not unlike a person who ages - they and we must have attention and loving care to maintain "our glow" til the end.

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    1. Good luck with acquiring the old Howell store building! Would be a great deal of work (and money too in all likelihood) to restore it, but wouldn't it be something?

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  6. I really enjoyed this post Sanda. I love old buildings and the history associated with them. We drive around the countryside with my father and remember who lived in various old (now) tumble-down places way back when I was little. An old shop once owned by my father is still standing, a real little antique building. I should photograph and blog it one day!

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  7. Patricia, would love to see some of the old buildings in Australia. Do consider doing a blog on them soon!. I am happy you enjoyed this post.

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