Abandoned Farmhouses 1

The forever advancing suburban sprawl has snaked its way through the upper valley, turning farmland into shiny new homes.  Most of the time when a field gets bought, it’s quickly subdivided with ease. Occasionally a relic to the areas agricultural past gets left behind.  Many of the older established farms had very big houses that were well maintained and will continue to live on well past their previous life.  Often the less successful ones wind up forgotten and left to the elements.  There are 3 good examples of this not far from where I live.  I went and and captured them because at some point their land will be bought and they will most likely get razed.

Topless in the Valley

The closest one to me is in the worst shape.  It is not far from the intersection at Borderland and Westside drive, a short drive down a dirt road gets you there.


View Topless in the Valley in a larger map

The first building on the property is the farmhouse.  It has no roof and has been exposed to nature for some time.

The Farmhouse
The Farmhouse

Given it’s close proximity to the new neighborhoods, It has it share of graffiti from local kids. The graffiti isn’t that remarkable most likely because its easy to be seen with all the windows and roof opened up.  A couple of the interior rooms have some more detailed pieces but again its just a grade above regular tagging.

Graffiti ???
ZOAG ???

The structure also houses a large assortment of shipping pallets. Most were wood, but there were a few plastic ones.  The other odd thing is there is no sign of any part of the roof in the structure or on the grounds nearby. It may have been a simple flat roof that has long been scavenged for something else.  Nearby is a small pump house, storage shed and large metal awning.

rest of the property
The rest of the property

The storage shed had been opened but nothing interesting remained.  The pump house has been left alone with no obvious attempts at forced entry.

The Pump House
The Pump House

The size of the property and collection of buildings is pretty interesting. It would appear that it did OK at some point in the past, maybe some sort of onion or cotton processing. However in its current state it won’t be returning to its farming roots anytime soon.  Next I stopped at a more traditional structure not far away. Stay tuned.