As Lori and I were taking a drive out in the country last summer we came across this house. I have seen these before, and I have named them a “House that Nobody Wants”. This one is a good example of an American Foursquare, probably built in the early 1900’s, and in this rural setting, a classic prairie farmhouse.
So what happened? Looking around provided a few clues. The mailbox by the road had the names of a couple on it, and was itself the model of a little house, probably built by the owner. Now it was smashed off its pole and hanging precariously above a little flowerpot. Maybe these names were an older couple that had lived in the house? Maybe they had passed on, leaving the place to heirs who didn’t care much for an old farmhouse? Whatever the case this house was now sitting empty and neglected. They don’t last long empty like this, and within a few years a house can become uninhabitable and beyond being able to save it.
I have a little daydream of finding such a house, one that nobody wants, a nice farmhouse out in the country, and fixing it up as a nice little place to live (hopefully complete with a barn out back for various Red Barchettas). This one didn’t seem too far gone yet, it seemed like there was hope for it, and I wrote down the address to try and look up some information on it later. Of course, not really ready to move just yet, I ended up forgetting about it.
Recently I remembered the house again and decided to drive by and see how it was doing. And it was...gone. Just like that. Vanished. I had to check that I was in the right place, but yes, this was the spot alright, and looking closer I could see the filled in spot where the foundation used to be. And this really bothered me. In this age of McMansions and crammed, look alike subdivisions, that a house like this, a house with some history, some character, would just be considered surplus to society and of no use. Give it to me for a good price and I would have fixed it up. Oh well, another one gone, there are not too many of these left in this area.
I really like this photo, as it was probably the last one taken of a house with a hundred years of history including the joys, struggles, and lives of the people who lived there. I wonder who they all were? How did their stories unfold?
-Rey
