Stone House

The stone structure appears strong but with the holes in the roof the future of this house is questionable.

Again I used Photoshop to achieve a monotone effect in this photo.

I have been working lately with a few hundred old family photographs that we borrowed from relatives. Scanning and restoration has been both time consuming and very rewarding. I was inspired by those old photographs to create the effects you see here.

Desolation

On one of my recent morning photo-adventures I happened upon this old dilapidated house. Allowing my mind to wander I tried to imagine what it was like the first day its new owners moved in.

The house would have been a pretty white clapboard house with a large stone fireplace and a shiny tin roof. The interior plaster walls were probably covered with pretty wall paper, upstairs as well as down. The front porch would have been an inviting place to sit on those long summer evenings while neighbors passed by, perhaps stopping for a chat before going on to their way. The summer kitchen attached to the right of the house would have provided relief from the heat of the wood fired range.

The C&O Canal is only a short walk behind the house. There one could have watched the mules pulling the barges and perhaps traded fresh fruit and baked goods with the folks operating the canal boats.

What was once someone’s pride and joy now stands empty; rust, rot and decay will soon erase it from the landscape.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose…. (Ecl. 3.1). The season for this house has passed but it still possesses a certain beauty in its desolation.

Historic Law Office, McConnellsburg Pa

I captured this image on a recent morning in McConnellsburg Pa. This home was built in 1892 with the matching two room law office adjacent to it. Recently restored and repainted its beauty contributes greatly to the Fulton County Courthouse Square’s appearance.

To learn more history about this home and office visit http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=541&show=archivedetails&ArchiveID=920391&om=1

Our Neighbors Home

Our next door neighbor’s home was built around 1908. The architecture you see here is typical of the more upscale farm houses in our area at that time. The original design was meant to house two families. This was the home of the folks featured in my August 16th post “Family Photos. I took this photo in 1976.

The farm has been in the same family for well over one hundred years now. Gerald and Virginia are the current owners and are the third generation to have lived in it. The house has been remodeled and still retains all of the charm and beauty of the country farm house.

I enjoy living beside such a picturesque home, but the best part is not the house,
but rather what good neighbors Gerald and Virginia are.