Twice now, since I have started this blog, I have posted pictures of a little old house that stands beside the highway just south of our town. Now I use the word “stands” loosely because it seems to be barely doing so nowadays. This tiny piece of architecture was probably once a house that its owners were proud of. I know it’s not big and it was obviously never very fancy to look at, but it was somebody’s home – a place to feel safe and sheltered from the many extremes of weather that we can experience in our neck of the woods. Over the years it was abandoned and has deteriorated greatly.
Everyone from the area, as well as people travelling to and from ski resorts and cottages, always watch out for the little, old house to see if it is still there, or if it has collapsed, because it is truly not long for this world. I fully expected it to be gone by the end of winter, and I’m sure it would have been if the winter had not been so mild this year. A couple of heavy snowfalls and I’m sure it would be just a pile of boards. So, we watch and we wait, and every once and a while I stop at the side of the highway for a visit with my tripod and my camera to document its last days.
A couple of days ago, I was driving to work early in the morning and noticed the little house bathed in sunlight at the side of the road. Luckily I had my tripod with me and time to kill before I was due at work, so I stopped to capture the latest stage in the demise of the little house. On the advice of a fellow blogger, not only did I take my normal scenic shots of the house and its surroundings, but I also spend some extra time on close ups of the windows and doors in all their crookedness. Tomorrow I will show you a couple of those shots, but today’s photos are a chronological diary of the steady decline of my favourite little house. The first was taken in October, the second in December, and the final photo is current. One day soon this little old house will be gone, and my drive to work will never be the same.
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photos from the loonybin 
This story and your photos are absolutely haunting. I think it’s wonderful that you are monitoring the little house and its steady decline. So sad to watch a place once so filled with life begin to fade away. You are a remarkable person to see beyond crumbling walls.
Awwww Dor, I am so glad you are my blogger friend!! You always make me feel good about myself, and I really needed that today!! I love little houses like this. I always find myself imagining who the family was that lived in the house and what their lives were like. Have an nice day. I’m off to the movies with my boys!!
I watch this house as well every morning and evening going to and from work. We talk about it daily at home, talking about when we think it won’t be there!
Hey Ellen, thanks for visiting my blog and commenting!! Long time no see. About the house, I wonder what we Dundalkians will talk about at the supper table when this old house is gone?? It really seems to be defying the odds doesn’t it?
There was a house very similar to this near us a few years ago. Imagine my shock to learn one day people were squatting inside. And this is when it was 115 degrees outside. They would wash in the water canal across the dirt road. Then one day it was gone. Burnt to the ground. Not sure if they did it, or someone else did to make sure no one stayed there.
Great picture!
Thanks 🙂 Wow, 115 degrees!! Maybe the house liked having squatters so it didn’t feel so lonely! What a shame it burned. I wonder if my little old house has ever had squatters?
Keep an eye out. That is how we saw it. One day there was movement inside. It was like… huh??? LOL
I think I will be looking a little more closely now! LOL
Looks like something from a Disney movie, or is it ‘The house that Jack built’. Great photos.
Yes, it does. I can see it becoming animated, with a face appearing on the front. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
There are surely spirits that inhabit this house, and their love for it may well be part of the remaining strength that it’s showing. The whole structure seems to have a sort of face, and it seems to be to be not only sagging, but smiling, too. I’d like to see a couple of studies in the fog and/or rain…
I love your theory that the love of the spirits is what’s holding the house up, and I agree that it does have a personality with a smiling face. I have taken photos of the house in sun and rain, but photos in the fog would be awesome!! I will have to watch for such an opportunity. 🙂
Please, please do!
What great pictures! Reminds me of a song I sang in school as a child about a crooked little house. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much! Is this the song?
There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
I had forgotten about this rhyme until you mentioned it. It brings back memories of childhood.
No one wants to save it? I like the house! I will be sad when you report it fell down. I think the way it is falling and how hard i continues to fight to stand is interesting. Makes me wonder about the history of the home.
I’m glad you like my little old house :). It definitely is a fighter!. A girl posted on Facebook, after reading my blog, that she babysat for a lady who knows a woman who was born in that house. I’ll bet she would be interesting to talk to if she is still alive!!
There was a crooked lady, who lived in a crooked house…. who ate crooked…. or how does it go again??? 😉 I love it!!! 🙂 **
Don’t you love when a photo brings back rhymes and other memories from childhood? Glad you liked it Xandre!! 🙂
Once upon a time, long, long ago… How sad… It is a sweet little house, and I can imagine that someone once really loved their little place. Wish houses could talk. 🙂
It would definitely have some stories to tell, I’m sure – some good and some bad. You know, I’ve always wanted to write a book. Maybe I could write a story centred around this house. 🙂
Brilliant idea! You can post excerpts from it here! 🙂
I love seeing images like this…in their falling down state (which is sad, don’t get me wrong) there is beauty.
I totally agree – they are very beautiful in their own way. I have been scoping out some falling down barns I want to capture this summer!! 🙂
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