Abandoned Mansions, Farms and Ghost Towns

Image by craigfinlay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poisonbabyfood/ / CC BY 2.0

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, and these amazing images prove the old adage beyond a shadow of a doubt.  The viewer is transported on a journey of the imagination through the history of these old houses and the memories within their walls – some of them physical, others left to the individual.  Come in and take a look…

Beirut, Lebanon

Image by craigfinlay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poisonbabyfood/ / CC BY 2.0

There is no doubt this upscale property was once the home of an important person – or at least someone with a sizable wallet.  But chances are the photographer had no idea just who that person would turn out to be before he snapped these evocative photos.

Images by craigfinlay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poisonbabyfood/ / CC BY 2.0

Whoever lived in this house appears to have left in a hurry.  Light passing through the translucent curtain creates a great scene for photographer Craig Finlay to maximise on.  The forlorn-looking child’s tricycle suggests a young family once lived here, while the overgrown garden now seems like the land time forgot.

Images by craigfinlay

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poisonbabyfood/ / CC BY 2.0

The owner’s identity was finally revealed by a multitude of black and white photos – all showing one man at various political events.  Craig Finlay deduced this was the home of Takieddin el-Solh, Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980.  The binders were full of political documents and voter lists.  Takieddin clearly abandoned his home swiftly after Syria demanded that he live out his days in Paris.  Urbexing at its best!

Abandoned Houses in Ontario, Canada

Images by That Canadian Grrl

Abandoned houses are not a rare phenomenon, but they are found in abundance across the rural plains of North America.  The continent is so vast that once natural resources are exhausted or family farms abandoned, buildings are often left derelict for many years – often untouched due to isolation.  The lonely farm above is a typical example.

Images by That Canadian Grrl

Churches are another regular victim of abandonment, when the communities they serve move on.  The church above, standing amid long grass, is remarkably well preserved for an abandoned building.  Happily, the vandals appear to have left it to rest in peace!  The farm houses, on the other hand, don’t look quite so lucky.

Images by That Canadian Grrl

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thatgrrl/ / CC BY 2.0

The house above may be long abandoned but astonishingly the Christmas lights on the porch have remained intact.  Can we assume that the vandals who ransacked the house are either not particularly festive or have some sort of hidden respect for the Yuletide season?

Abandoned on the Luderitz Peninsula, Namibia

Images by coda

The town of Luderitz was founded in 1883 as a trading post on land purchased on behalf of Adolf Luderitz, of Bremen in Germany.  In 1909 diamonds were discovered in Luderitz which led to a surge of prosperity for the town, but this didn’t last and today many of the buildings lie abandoned and forgotten.  The remains of a Norwegian whaling station – dating back to 1914 – also stands on the peninsula, a rusty ruin today.

Images by coda

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coda/ / CC BY 2.0

The cross above stands on Dias Point, 22km south of Luderitz.  It takes its name from the Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias, and is a replica of a cross Dias erected on the same spot on 12th March, 1488 after rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Namibia

Images by coda

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coda/ / CC BY 2.0

Just outside Luderitz can be found the ghost town of Kolmanskop – another hangover from the diamond rush that once consumed the region.  Today the abandoned buildings are plagued by the unforgiving desert winds and shifting sands, which have now all but consumed their interiors (below).

Images by coda

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coda/ / CC BY 2.0

While the town was occupied, metal screens were cleverly utilised to protect houses from the sand, and pretty gardens flourished as a result.  But in the 1950s the residents moved out and today it’s hard to imagine these houses once stood along neat roads flanked by foliage.

Images by coda

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coda/ / CC BY 2.0

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