THE CITY OF DETROIT has approximately 12,000 abandoned houses, mostly from the late Victorian era and early 20th century. Photographer Kevin Bauman had been casually taking pictures of some of them, starting in the neighborhood of Brush Park, where something of a ‘rebirth’ was going on.
Then he moved on to other areas, encountering “concerned citizens, packs of wild dogs, 20 foot high piles of toilets, and houses with the facades torn off, filled with garbage.”
As the number of images grew, a documentary style emerged, and he switched from black-and-white to color.
To see more of these once-magnificent, now-regrettable houses in a variety of architectural styles, and the vegetation that covers them, click on over to Kevin’s blog, 100 Abandoned Houses.
Rather a tragic waste, don’t you think?
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June 23, 2010 at 1:19 pm
kathleen
Cara,
It is tragic. I look at those houses and see such charm, such potential. I hope that some sort of salvaging takes place so parts can be saved, even if the houses cannot.
June 27, 2010 at 12:52 am
Monroe (Ricky to you)
Cara,
First thanks for your fine blog.
Nothing left to salvage from those houses, all the copper, aluminum, brass, marble, anything of any value has been stripped out long ago.
Beautiful houses though.
Every last one of them, even the smallest was once (or more) someone’s dream house. But a dream and a house are more than just the sum of their parts. There’s that component of optimism that makes bricks, mortar, wood and nails more than just a building. Those things are long gone from Detroit.
I lived in Michigan for 6 dismal years in the early 90′s. These pictures could have been taken then and not only in Detroit. Flint, Toledo, Cleveland……
But i am rambling and this is Your blog, thanks
June 27, 2010 at 6:41 am
cara
So well put, Monroe/Ricky. I tend to look at these pictures and just see architecture destroyed, forgetting these houses were, as you say, once someone’s dream. Even more tragic when you think of it that way… Dreams, communities, a way of life — all gone, along with the plumbing pipes and marble mantels.