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A Farm of My Own:  empty farm houses  |
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ladybugsmom6
True Blue Farmgirl
128 Posts
Tami
Horicon
WI
USA
128 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 07 2005 : 4:01:47 PM
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Does it make any one else truely sad to see the big old graceful houses sitting empty? while the farm land is owned and planted by big corporations, or just neglected. I see so many "abandoned" beautiful homes just sitting, falling in on themselves with no one to keep their hearts and hearths warm. I hear, "no one wants to heat that old thing!"" who needs a house that big?" The charachtor and grace I step into old farm houses and feel that the house can protect me, in some way. They feel safe, loved in, truely home. New houses feel wimpy by comparison. Remodeling can be tricky, but if you can make a barn a house, you can live in asn old beauty with out making it apartments! And by the way, I would heat it and I need a house at least that big! families need space.
-Tami
livin' right and loven' life! |
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2005 : 05:32:31 AM
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| It does make me sad. There was one that I loved to look at in Florida, on old 301 on the way to my parent's house. The roof had caved in, but it had the prettiest porch and was once white. I loved it best at sunset, with all the land aglow behind it. |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2005 : 12:53:11 PM
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The road from my hometown, Springfield, Ill, to my hubby's hometown in Rockford is lined with farmhouses no longer lived in. It breaks my heart! If only people would take them and make them new again. That would cost little more than the high prices new homes are going for now. I always think, if a big family lived there for a long time, it could still house a family and warmth. These houses cannot be replaced.
jpbluesky |
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jenny louise
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
jennifer
cass city
MI
USA
166 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2005 : 6:55:06 PM
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I so agree, i am saddened when I see an old, lovely farmhouse caving in on itself, and have even pulled in to the drive and gotten out; listening for whispers of the past. I try to imagine what it must have been like a hundred years ago, bright and bustling and the family hopefully proud of what they were doing. Time passes on though and I know that our old place will someday go that way, progress I guess, eh?
I think it is a good reminder that I must enjoy each day that I have here and live it fully, and kudos to all of you that are salvaging old houses and creating loving homes!!!What an honorable thing to do, just like jp says, it can cost more than a new home.
Jenny |
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sleepless reader
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
CA
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 09:11:41 AM
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I remember an old farmhouse near where my parents once lived in Georgia. The ever-present Kudzu had taken over, the back half of the place had collapsed in on itself and there was a cow sticking its' head through the window! The light was changing to evening and it was a beautiful sight. Sadly, the photo I had taken got ruined going through the x-ray at the airport :( If only I could paint or draw!
JennyLouise, I loved what you said about listening for whispers of the past...
Sharon
Life is messy. Wear your apron! |
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LJRphoto
True Blue Farmgirl
760 Posts
Laura
Hickory Corners
MI
USA
760 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 09:21:58 AM
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There is an old house sitting empty right next to me. I think it is the house that the lady who built our house used to live in. It's owned by the bank now and they want $110,000 for it, which they will NEVER get. There are huge holes in the roof and the walls inside are covered with mold. It also had been converted (poorly) into individual living units and has several porches on the back that need to be torn down and rebuilt. It's on a city sized lot and needs so much work I can't imagine anyone buying it to fix it up and it's too much money for a tear down. It's a romantic notion, buying an old farmhouse and fixing it up, but it can cost a whole lot more money (and heartache) than a new house to do it. Having always lived in fixer uppers (always moving just as soon as it is fixed up) I can understand why people just buy new, as much as I hate all of those characterless, taupe houses.
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain
http://ljrenterprises.blogspot.com/ |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2005 : 08:29:35 AM
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| Make them an offer! Could be they'd love to get rid of the place, and you could have it for, like, $1 plus the cost of having it moved to your site and planted there. I see articles in home decorating magazines all the time about people who've done that. |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Sep 13 2005 : 08:41:55 AM
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Girls, I meant my post to be a general comment on abandoned farm houses, not a response to LJRphoto, who seems to be up against a real monster of a bank -- they want the property but won't maintain it properly. Doesn't that just make you want to scream? In such cases, the owners (bank or whomever) may be playing a game called "demolition by neglect." To win, they leave their wonderful old house to rot until, eventually, the local government responds to citizen complains and uses public money (that would be YOU money, Ms. Taxpayer!) to have it torn down, which saves them the cost of doing it. There are probably even tax advantages for the owner in the case of a bank, like for loss of an asset or something.
*sigh* |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Sep 18 2005 : 08:56:42 AM
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Just last weekend coming through the pine barrens on the way home we pulled over so I could take some pictures of an old white farm house sitting boarded up. It was like my perfect dream house and just sitting there ...falling down. It was posted with signs from the local state forest so I copied down the contact info and made a plan to call. This once lovely old house has been condemned because the previous homeowners neglected to take care of their septic properly and contaminated their own well. The bigger issue is that the aquifer is very high and very vulnerable in the Pine Barrens and their irresponsibilty has affected a rather large area.
I am the romantic in my household. DH is the restoration expert and usually the very wet blanket about major projects. He knows very well that restoration is an expensive businesss and if fixing up ancient and decrepid homes was cost effective more people would be doing it. There is a line that you will never recup your investment and that is the point to say this doesn't make sense. His clients have mostly well maintained old homes that are looking to "historically and accurately" update and or add on. Once in a blue moon does he get someone who has as much money as passion about an old house and then the cost be damned. Sadly, it usually is about the cost of repairs that make alot of old houses fall by the wayside.
with a happy heart |
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OkieSunflower
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
OK
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 11:24:21 AM
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We live in one of those old houses. I have a love/hate relationship with my home. I love the look, feel and character of my old home, but then it needs SO much work done to it.
We remodeled in 2000, and have honestly run out of room! We have talked to a builder (several actually) and it will be cheaper to build new than to remodel.
Sad, I know, but it's reality. I'm NOT married to a carpenter so the work would have to be hired done. The savings in utilities (when we build new) would make the payments on a new home.
Reality HAS to set in and the old has to be a memory! New memories will be made in my NEW HOME!
"Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others." Jonathan Winters
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 11:45:26 AM
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This thread is near and dear to my heart, I just love the old homes and get so mad when I see one just sitting alone and dying, if I could, I would restore them all and give them to a needy family! I live in a 70 plus year old house, not one wall is square, floors uneven, and who knows what they used for insulation, but I love it! The frame is made of oak 4x4's so I know it's not going anywhere. Newer homes go up so fast, I wouldn't trust them in a storm or worse. It's sad how history can be left to crumble.
I'm not 40 something, I'm 39.95 plus shipping and handling! |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 11:50:10 AM
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Okiesunflower - In the part of my mind that can set aside sentiment, I know that many farmhouses are deserted for just the reasons you stated. If a farm family has lived in their homes for decades and decades, often times they are so thrilled to build a new one. I can see that side of the story, too. Real farmers are most often not romantics.....
jpbluesky |
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OkieSunflower
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
OK
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 12:03:12 PM
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The decking in my attic has linoleum from the original house built..who knows WHEN! It's funny going up in there and seeing history on my roof.
I want to use the floor in our barn-loft in our new house. Talk about expensive wood...the cost to replane it is unreal.
You are so right...REAL farmers can't afford to be romantics....
"Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others." Jonathan Winters
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Edited by - OkieSunflower on Sep 21 2005 12:04:27 PM |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 12:43:39 PM
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Okie, will you be building soon? I heard wood products have already gone up 40% with no end in sight? I too understand why some homes have been deserted but with todays home improvement shows tearing down houses to build new ones there has to be a way to save most of these houses, such a shame!
I'm not 40 something, I'm 39.95 plus shipping and handling! |
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verbina
True Blue Farmgirl
231 Posts
randi
n.j
USA
231 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 4:01:14 PM
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| i know how ya feel okie,old houses can eat you alive. we had one we restored.man they were some rough times,thought i might punch my hub.in the head a few times but i didnt want any more bills ,cause i really might have hurt him.lol. we have since moved to a 15 year old cabin w/guest house or maby it will be a pottery barn but right now we are letting a snake live in it.we still have work to do in this place but not as much. we have 10ac. in the middle of the woods(spirits all over the place) but i hope to move out in two years to a old house that is DONE.yes i am a dreamer with a old soul.good luck to you and your new home randi |
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Park Avenue
True Blue Farmgirl
57 Posts
Michele
Paradise Valley
Alberta
Canada
57 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2005 : 07:13:58 AM
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I also get so sad to see old houses abandoned, or worse yet, when they are mistreated, and neglected.
We don't have many really old ones here in Alberta. In my community I live in one of the older ones, built in the 40's. Luckily my husband is a structural draftsman, and we are both pretty handy with renovations.
We see so many new homes, and new home plans, and I always come home to my house, which isn't as flashy or as shiney, but it does have a charcter that you just don't see anymore.
Michele |
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Candy Segar
Farmgirl at Heart
1 Posts
Candace
Pensacola
Florida
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2005 : 12:35:17 PM
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Hi Everyone,
I am looking for a farm in Northern Alabama, Tennessee or Kentucky or Southern NC or SC or Northern GA. I am in Florida and I can't take the pressure of evacuating and not knowing if I will have a home to go back to or not. It really worries me. I want to give farming on a small scale a try - I am looking for a mostly wooded area 10 - 20 acres with a good house on it. No fixer upper unless cosmetic. I have gutted and rebuilt this old house. I am not up to it again. Also I need about an acre for planting an organic garden. I want to do this badly. It will also be a place my family and friends who live along the Gulf Coast can evacuate to. It is getting too crazy with all of these hurricanes. Please advise. I am searching and could use your help. Thank you and it is nice to meet you all. Organic farmer Wannabe, Candy |
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bramble
True Blue Farmgirl
2044 Posts
2044 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2005 : 8:21:30 PM
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Our 70+ year old house actually needs more work than the 214 year old one we moved from! And being married to the carpenter is usually not a perk! We are always the last client on their list! You know, by the time they get home more WORK is the last thing they want to be doing! I love the quirks of old houses and will probably always live in one with the good and the bad.
Oh! DH said to add that MANY of the old houses he works on are not structurally sound.They are an accident waiting to happen, as the framing , roof trusses and structural support beams were often patched or repaired improperly, or the spacing and or weight bearing capacities were never built adequately, let alone built to code. He once worked on a house where they literally fell through the kitchen floor because the main support beam under that section gave way.
The home owner later told him that they never had more than one person in that area at a time because the floor felt "funny". I should say so! I still love my old houses and I am a dreamer, it's a good thing I married the wet blanket who keeps my feet on the ground while my head is in the stars!
with a happy heart |
Edited by - bramble on Sep 22 2005 8:46:48 PM |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Sep 23 2005 : 04:37:06 AM
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Gosh, I know of quite a few houses that stand empty (I'm between that Springfield/Rockford ride) for the oddest reasons, and company owned land isn't one of them. Usually, when the big companies buy up farmland they'll set aside the house and five or so acres if it's sellable without much repair or rigamarole. Mostly, the ones I know are situations where there are large families who all farm in the area but then Dad dies and Mom moves to town. The family still wants access to the equipment sheds and barns so they can farm, but the house is empty. All the kids already have their own homes, so it just stands due to what I call familial inertia. It's long ago paid for, and they don't intend to let it go to outsiders. But then, enough time goes by that little unnoticed repairs become big ones, and then the tax bill on the building gets irritating, and so they call the volunteer fire department and let them take it down for practice.
I really understand the house hunger that motivates these responses. There's a grace and history with older homes. I often walk around mine and think of the previous occupants, wonder about their lives, and if they got to fulfill their hopes and dreams there. I love the solidity of the construction materials. Mine was built 140 years ago with honest to gosh two by six inch studs in the walls, plaster and lathe, and solid hardwood doors. It's quiet in here, and cool. Each part was built one at a time; assembly lines hadn't been invented yet. I'm lucky in that each occupant took care with it, updated things like electrical and plumbing as needed, and although there are some funky features, it's a wonderful old home.
There was one northwest of me, a grand old three story Queen Anne that had been largely untouched, that finally was purchased and rehabbed. I thought for sure it was going to be left to decay beyond retrieval. Oh my, how I would have loved to get into that house and see it before it was redone! |
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jenny louise
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
jennifer
cass city
MI
USA
166 Posts |
Posted - Sep 23 2005 : 06:00:51 AM
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I can definitely see both sides, and as i said before, we are a couple of those dreamers that really should have torn down! But I have to tell you that last night I got the biggest surprise concerning this house. We knew that the original family had a fire here, destroying the house, but since it was WW1,and there were not alot of supplies available to build, they found an old hotel, and took it apart, piece by piece and rebuilt on the old house foundation. And now how many years later, we still have numbers on all of our doors inside.
Well, a historian has come up with the original photos of the old hotel, which is quite a shock, since they are from late 1800's, and it was an out of the the way inn.
It is just nice to have it all come full circle, and although we have huge problems with the house structure, we are glad that we have not torn down. But it is an individual choice and there is no condemnation from me at all. I will never have a level floor, the basement weeps constantly, unless of course it is frozen down there, we have switches in the walls that go to nothing at all, and we just hope that the wires are not dangling in the walls, waiting to spark. Bats and birds vie for room in our attic space, and there is one solitary metal post holding up the main load bearing wall in the basement. Because of the first fire,(and there have been three since), The beams around the foundation perimeter are scorched and damaged, but we figure that it will last our lifetimes, perfection isn't our norm, and we are quite content to just keep it held up, then our kids will sell off the whole farm when we are gone and the next folks will doze it.
I like the feel of much living having gone on here, the ghosts of the past are welcome and I do love the old sagging place, it is kind of looking like i will join her in the slow march toward a comfortable state of a life well lived.
No matter what we decide to live in, it is the home that is most important, not the house. All of you are capable of making your dwelling into a loving and inviting home, and i read about all of the remarkable lives you are leading and want to visit each of you!! Thanks, Jenny Louise |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
Posted - Sep 23 2005 : 12:19:53 PM
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Oh Jenny, How I would love to see your house, a old motel, how cool! I think you speak for all of us "dreamers" who are connected to our old places, they aren't perfect but they do feel like home! Enjoyed your post, wish it had pictures! Thanks!
I'm not 40 something, I'm 39.95 plus shipping and handling! |
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RachelLeigh
True Blue Farmgirl
635 Posts
Rachel
Rainier
WA
USA
635 Posts |
Posted - Sep 23 2005 : 12:36:39 PM
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| This is an interesting topic. There are A LOT of old abandoned farmhouses in the Hanover/Madison area of southern Indiana. There are actually two abandoned farmhouses that sit between my parents house and the town of Hanover. One of them is long-since boarded up and I've watched it slowly fall apart as I've grown up. Every year though, there is still a tobacco crop that is hung up to dry in the old barn near the house. So it's being used that way still. The other one is absolutely beautiful but I've never stopped to take a picture. It sits in a big valley that you can see at the intersection of two highways. It's way off in the distance and it's just a gorgeous view. Then there is a big farm near the town limits that just got sold. My parents neighbors, who are generally unpleasant people, sold the family farm that her mother owned to a subdivision developer and then the family fought over the money. Soon, that farm will be knocked down, as will the barns and silos, and a subdivision will be put it. I used to play there as a child because i was friends with my neighbor's niece. I still remember running around that gravel lot in between the house and the barn. And there was a tree that was a perfect "Y" and was so low that we could sit in it....I haven't thought about that in years. And now it will all be gone.... Why is it that no one seems to see that not ALL progress is good? |
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mamamia
Farmgirl at Heart
8 Posts
Cher-Ami
Toquerville
UT
USA
8 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2005 : 7:50:39 PM
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| Ahhhhhhhh! I cannot wait for the day I can love an old home again. I am holding onto homeschooling as a single mother but still have very high hopes of owning (my first) home....alone. I have lived in and out of a storage unit for several years now and it brings me down everytime I have to get into it. I can make things but can't imagine making enough for a living. My $500.00 worth of greenhouse supplies has now warped and yes I know lumber has gone sky high too. What to do? |
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sanctuarywitch
Farmgirl at Heart
9 Posts
shannon
otsego
mi
USA
9 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2005 : 1:00:13 PM
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My farm & house were built circa 1860. I think I love it obsessively. It is ramshackle in a loveable way...happy shabby chic! By the grace of God, I was able to keep it when I divorced. My house feels like my best friend!
Life rewards action! |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2005 : 1:53:22 PM
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Mamamia, hang in there! Do you quailfy for a HUD house or Habitat for Humanity? If so, get your name on any list you can, most have long waits but the sooner the better and you never know till you try. Also, there are alot of new home loans even for single moms, so do a search on the web and what ever you do, don't give up, there's a house out there just wanting for you! Good luck!
I'm not 40 something, I'm 39.95 plus shipping and handling! |
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kitchensqueen
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
521 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2007 : 12:20:23 PM
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It makes me cry... that once warm, wholesome lives were lived there. The ones that really pull at my heart are the ones that look as though the last family just up and left one day-- with the glass vases in the kitchen window, the daylilies taking over the yard, the porch swing swaying in the breeze...
http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
Now Open!: http://shadetreestudios.etsy.com |
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A Farm of My Own: empty farm houses |
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empty farm houses
