Photo by James D. Griffioen
Detroit blogger and photographer James D. Griffioen made this photograph. It's one from a collection of photographs of what he calls "feral houses" -- houses you might feel tempted to describe as having reverted to a state of nature.
Here in Athens, Ga. we may not have quite as many feral houses as Detroit does (some people estimate that there are 10,000 abandoned houses in that shrinking city), but we do have lots of aggressive kudzu. So, at the very least we should have some spectacular examples of houses gone wild. I'd love to see photographs of them.In the meantime, enjoy Griffioen's beautiful, sad and fascinating collection here.
We used to have some semi-feral houses (abandoned, somewhat overgrown) in the Boulevard area but not so much any more. Though not a house, the old Southern Textile Mill just north of the railroad tracks near Chattooga is pretty haunting. I have heard that there is or was a house off the end of Hiawassee near Prince that is being swallowed by kudzu. Not in our neighborhood, but there is a prominent kudzu house on Hwy. 441 right where you turn to Sandy Creek Park.
What we have more of around here are "pipe farms", abandoned subdivisions where houses were never built. They are all over Oconee Co. In Athens, check out the one on old Macon Hwy. near the loop. There is even a partially finished model home with Tyvek flapping in the wind.
Posted by: Matt Elliott | September 04, 2009 at 01:09 PM