Abandoned Stone House
Somewhere in western Kansas, on the way home from our Thanksgiving trip to Colorado, I noticed this house on a distant hill. I asked Harland to stop the truck so I could take a pic (or two). It was an old abandoned house built probably in the late 1800s from hand hewn limestone blocks.
The windmill was conveniently located next to the house, which must have been good for hauling water before the days of indoor plumbing. A lot of houses and barns and even fences in western Kansas were built with limestone due to a shortage of trees and lumber. Limestone was easily found just a few feet under the soil. It was cut into blocks and then hauled to building sites. Many of these structures, now over 100 years old, still stand today.
And for me, this particular house makes a great subject for a little fun with Photoshop. The first one is straight out of the camera, and the next two are post-Photoshop.
1
2
3
Which is your favorite? First, second, or third?
———> UP NEXT: Comfort-loving Kitty has found the warmest spot in the house.
———> LATER THIS WEEK: Pine cones, snow geese, and white tail deer.
[ad name=”Google Adsense”]
I really like the third one,beautiful old home and picture!
I enjoyed all of the photos in the post. It was fun seeing the changes you made to the one photo. I can’t decide between the three which I like the best. I kept scrolling up and down to look at them again, and each was wonderful. My eyes were drawn more to the plants in the foreground in the first one, and to the windmill in the other two.
Number one – I think? Plants in number one are good. But I didn’t think of that until I saw the comment from Sue above.
hmm… I’d say it’s a tie between the first and the third. 🙂 Beautiful pictures! And I can’t help but wondering about why in the world the house is sitting there abandoned. Hmm….
I love the road to your house, Suzanne! And I love the depth in your pictures.
Hmmm… which is my favorite… either the black and white or the sepia. But I also love the first photo… 🙂
the colors in the first are beautiful, but I’m partial to the 3rd–the warmth, the shadows–it also almost looks like a painting. Beautiful!
My favorite is the third…cause I am an old fashioned kinda girl…and I romanticize about olden times. I think because life was tougher, I have such a respect for how strong you had to be and how you actually had to work to live.
I like the first one because its REAL.
Also love the third one because it looks like a work of art.
In these two the roadside grasses look so pretty.
Black and white to black and white!
I vote #1!
I’m loving the first one. 🙂
Definitely the sepia toned picture!!
The first one is beautiful, but I like the sepia one because it invokes memories of days past and all the life that was lived in that old house!
The building looks like it would be a nice bed and breakfast, with a bit of remodeling, to include a wraparound porch. I wonder how far it is to the nearest Wal-Mart:)
I like the third one. It reminds me of an Andrew Wyeth painting.
These photos would make great jigsaw puzzles.
I like the third one. When I see these abandoned homes I wonder what their walls would say. Did a happy family live here? Someone once called it home.
Hi Sally,
I always wonder that too. A happy home? Not so happy?
I like the first one too. Beautiful photos, all. I live near Madison Co, Ia where there are many stone houses. Honest to God, just this week I was checking out stone houses in realtor ads and found one like this with no windows and a bad roof and the script, the description, the “come on” said “good stone house, needs a few repairs”. A few! quite a few.
Hi Nance,
Ha. Don’t you love the spin realtors can put on a property? Oh, but wouldn’t it be fun to try to restore a house like this one? Such a shame to see it crumbling away.
The girls and I like the 3rd picture the best. I wish we could move that house to our farm and restore it.
Me too Mary. It looks straight enough and I wondered too if it could be restored.
Late comer–but I was wondering where “somewhere” is, exactly? photographing distressed old buildings is what I train my camera on more than any other subject, so I wouldn’t mind giving this place my attention. Nice pics in any case.
It’s in Phillips county north of Highway 36 west of the town of Phillipsburg.
Thanks!
It is really falling in now. 🙁 This is my family’s home, the Carman homestead. My grandmother has limestone bricks from the house.
So Sorry to hear that, Shay. I haven’t been out that direction in a while. I wonder if your grandmother has any pics of the house back in it’s heyday.
Shay,I believe we are cousins! Are you Rochelle’s grandchild? Rochelle & my mom,Jeanine Hussey-Rudman were 1st cousins, her mom was Lois Carman-Hussey. Please feel free to contact me at chell@insanegeeks.com or on facebook:https://www.facebook.com/chellsfbpage
Greetings, this 13 room house was built by my maternal 6Xs great grandpa, Charles Carman in the 1830’s. The family is of Welsh decent & prior to moving to Kansas, lived in Wisconsin, where they lived in a dug out with animal pelts covering the “door” while building another house.