When I spotted this house from the road I was very hopeful. It looked like a large retro house that could hold some history. It was also evident that I needed to check it right away because new cookie cutter developments are happening all around it.
As I approached the front of the house it became clear that it was heavily damaged. Two windows had the boards ripped off and I could see spray painted scribbles on the walls. Once inside it was clear that this was not going to be an explore full of history, rather vandalism and nastiness.
There was no overwhelming smells but this house had more flies in it than any other abandoned location I have explored. Not a single wall in the house was intact or free of graffiti. Yet I was still drawn to documenting it.
For the majority of my time exploring, I would have been very angry about this useless destruction. But this explore was a very good reminder of a conclusion I came to about a year ago. I was there to document the final stages in this house’s history, I need to keep the mindset of a journalist. Separating my thoughts/emotions from documenting what is, in short “separating myself from a story”. If it is an untouched mansion only empty because the owner wants to build a new house or if a development company has purchased a tiny farm house full of graffiti and destroyed to build condos, if the location is only 10 years old or 200 years old. It is all history and should be documented as such.
This is what sparked my interest about urban exploration. Documenting the history that typically goes undocumented and forgotten.
This large home was built in 1982 on a rural country road and was home to one family. until being purchased by a large development company in 2018. As of 2021 that rural road has now become a suburban neighborhood. This single house is all that remains of the past rural road and its demolition is imminent. Thankfully I was able to document the end of its story!
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