Photos by X. Paschen : on the map, in Google Earth (KML)

:))) YS + Like!!! Greetings, Liz

Greetings Moorteufel, Happy New year. I hope everyone is doing well as the new year starts to roll. It will be a lot of fun and I hope to be able to post some new material you will like as well as see new contributions from all of you. Thanks for all the visits and wonderful comments. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thanks again. Cheers, Rich

Greetings All, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Cheers, Rich

I've been inside this house.. have pics too. They've (sadly) torn down the barn, but as of 2011, the house is still there, though it is starting to be damaged by the elements. That said, the roof is still mostly sound, there is no evidence of animal intrusion into the attic or basement, and the basement is dry.
It appears that it's last resident was an elderly widower living alone with a chronic (terminal??) disease. There's a hospital-style bed sitting in one of the downstairs rooms (it seems like the old fellow had been unable to manage the stairs for a long time), along with an ancient black&white television (1960's or earlier) and a camper-style portable toilet (I'm guessing the old man couldn't make it to the restroom easily towards the end of his life either.. aging sucks), an ancient sofa, stuffed with straw and so badly worn that the straw is protuding from it in tufts, and mounds of junk, the old man's stuff, and trash. The bed still has sheets and blankets on, though they are badly stained in places.
In the kitchen, there is a large mound of trash, old straw-filled mattresses, empty jugs and beer bottles, a couple of kitchen chairs, an old fridge, and even more trash. It looks like the house was built long before electricity and indoor plumbing, and those were added in, in a rough, inept-home-handyman-ish manner, much later. A bathtub dominates one corner of the kitchen, and seems to have been added in later, possibly a concession to the house's elderly owner being unable to get around easily. All over the house piles of trash and junk lay on the floors and on whatever furniture remains. The basement is the worst, with old canning supplies, gardening supplies, an old wringer-style washer, and pieces of the furnace laying all over the largely dirt-floored rooms. The basement windows have all been boarded up. All in all, it's a house with very tangible history. There's a lot of lovely old woodwork, but it would need huge amounts of money and work to make it habitable again. It would need a new roof, modern electrical wiring and plumbing, new plaster/drywalling, new furnace and ductwork, and a kitchen that has running water, for a start.. still, I hate to see homes with that sort of age and history be allowed to deteriorate to the point of being condemned and torn down. If I had the money and the know-how, I'd buy it and restore it myself... unfortunately, I don't.

Interesting fact.. the hand-pump for the well in the back yard still works. When you operate the pump, you get lovely clear, cold water. I used it to wash my hands. If you want to see the pics, email me.

Muchas gracias por tu grata visita y bonito comentario, Diego! Me alegra que te guste esta toma! Saludos, Anne

E' l'ora!

I like this one.

like!

Muchas gracias por la visita, el bonito comentario, el 'Like y la Y*, Asturmeño! Me alegra de que te gusten mis fotos de naturaleza! Un saludo cordial desde Alemania, Anne