Urban Spelunking BEDA 6/31

This past weekend I went with my dad to look for a chair to pair with the vanity we restored for my room and to find a frame to use when I make a chalkboard to put up in my room. We happen to own a very old, decrepit house that was the original homestead of my family. It started as a one room cabin, and over time a lovely old two story home. This house is crumbling and slowly being taken over by nature, and it is quite sad really. Even though the home belongs to my mother's family, my dad has always dreamed of being able to have the time and money to completely restore the house. Since neither of those things have happened, it has become something of a storage facility. As we walked (and sometimes climbed) through the house to look for treasures, I found that I felt like I was participating in a very rustic form of urban spelunking. In between gushing over mid-century pieces of furniture and the beauty of the house itself, I also snapped several pictures with my handy dandy phone.

As you first pull into the lot the house sits on, you can see where nature has fought hard to take back over the land where it originally roamed. Vines climb over and between the wood slats and trees loom above the roof.

The front porch has become a loading dock of sorts. There are stacks of lumber, several doors, and some windows and screens that were either part of the original house or that have been collected over the years to help with the restoration of the home.  Time and weather have wreacked havoc on the house itself, tearing down siding and gutters, blowing out windows, and allowing more open spaces for grass and vines to pilfer through the house.

Once you head to the door you find a veritable smorgasbord of delightful objects. This is an old vat that is filled with nothing but green bottles of various shapes and sizes. Slowly Virginia Creeper has made it's way over the vat and around several of the bottles. 

Along with these lovely bottles I found an odd mixture of strange and beautiful items inside the house. 

A creepy baby doll

A stack of mattress springs

A copy of The Stand by Steven King, which I thought appropriately fit the eeriness of the house.

The staircase leading to the upper floor. 

The fireplace in the living room, even without the mantle it is beautiful.

Stacks of old mattresses that I'm sure have become homes for animals.

The bottom of the banister. I was very disappointed when I learned that this was purchased and not hand carved by my ancestors. 

All in all I enjoyed my opportunity to explore on Sunday. At one point some sort of animal ran across the roof while I was alone in a room, and I was almost convinced it was a velociraptor,* which lead to me not wandering around alone any longer.



*My dad says it was NOT a velociraptor, but I've seen Jurassic Park. I know what they sound like, and I know what happens to doubters.