Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Abandonment Issues: Bobcaygeon House of Hoarders

Mt. Clothing

This isn't just a story about a man exploring an abandoned house, this is a story about living with the loss of loved ones. This is a story about consumption and compulsion and coping mechanisms.

This is a love story.

Immediately upon cracking open the door, I am overwhelmed. A repulsive stench is thick in the hot air and more powerful than anything my olfactory system has ever encountered. My eyes instantly begin to tear up, and after snapping the following photo, I cough into my elbow, and retreat.

can't let go

I stand outside under a drooping willow tree, trying not to think about the pungent odor, but rather what I saw inside. A thick carpet of everything imaginable is a lopsided and unstable foundation to giant mountains of everything else. Intrigued, and already reeking of the pukey must, I take a few deep breaths, and re-open the door.

Mt. Garbage

Much like the Rockies form a wall between Calgary and the West, the mountains of stuff, things and crap carve a maze throughout the first floor of this large farmhouse, blocking access to the rooms in the front of the house. The tiny over-stocked kitchen is covered in a thick brown film of bacteria, and I turn away. The dining room table is buried amongst scattered debris, mostly garbage. Newspapers, magazines, bills, flyers and hundreds of empty food containers, in every direction, as far as the eye can see. A string clothesline sags across the dining room from wall to wall above the table, and from it hang more plastic bags containing even more plastic containers and bags. I follow the maze out of the kitchen and into the living room, growing fairly accustomed to, but still repulsed by the intense stench. With every step my feet sink into the unknown depths of the stuff and things that have chipped off and fallen from the adjacent mountains over time. Traversing this valley is not easy, and care must be taken with each step to get a stable foothold.

In the living room, with garbage mountain behind me, the story begins to unfold. As seen in the lead photo, mountains of clothing reach glorious heights and are peppered with random books and other objects like pockets of snowfall accumulation. Antique chests and bureaus are all but hidden under and behind these massive mountains of dated clothing.

trophy room

A photograph on the wall steals my attention, and i climb partway up the mountain for a better view. Under a big red bow, the photograph depicts a husband and wife, looking right into the camera. My camera. Surrounding the framed image are wedding photographs and dozens of ribbons bearing the occupants names, awarded for agricultural achievements in the local community. The entire wall is covered in spiderwebs, which have trapped nothing but dust.

Man and wife

The couple continue to stare at me, standing in their living room, staring back at them. A plaque to the left of the photograph contains a poem entitled 'Lifes Clock'. The energy in the room in this moment inspires me to read it aloud...

"The clock of life is wound but once,
And no man has the power,
To tell just when the hands will stop,
At late or early hour-

To lose one's wealth is sad indeed,
To lose one's health is more;
To lose one's soul is such a loss,
As no man can restore.

The present only is our own,
Live, love, toil with a will,
Place no faith in tomorrow-for
The clock may then be still."

Again, tears begin to roll down my cheek, partly due to the hot nasty stench in the air, but more so attributed to the dots I am beginning to connect, and the story that is unraveling.

With the five foot tall clothing mountain ridge bisecting the room, the maze leads me to a staircase, and i quickly hop up the stairs, two at a time. Corey Hart and a young Mats Sundin are smiling in the corner. Here, even more ribbons hang on the wall, pierced with rusty thumbtacks. These ribbons are for equestrian accomplishments, and bear the name of the couple's daughter. Obviously, I draw a connection to the Havelock Horse House. A buff topless dude on a poster is the only other obvious sign that this once was a girl's room. There is remarkably less stuff accumulated in this area, that is until I round the corner.

the girl's room

Go Leafs Go!

block it up

The maze continues to lead me through room after room, all of them packed with everything in the world and topped with layers of clothing. Using my hands, the tight hallways finally provide some stability on the shifting landscape beneath my feet.

traversing 

"Things you own, end up owning you." -Tyler Durden

The posters on the walls in one of the rooms depict KISS, motorcycles and scantily clad women, this was a boys room. Both of these kids rooms appear to have been left virtually as is, after the children left home in the early to mid nineties. The boys room however, eventually succumbed to the force of the shifting mountains, and was eventually buried under the weight of it all. As were all of the other rooms and hallways in the house. It became obvious that given more of that precious time, that last room, that girls room atop the stairs, would have also been filled up and buried.

the boy's room

Several fully furnished and decorated bedrooms filled with all of the makings of home, and then buried in more of them.

dresser drawers and double doors

stuff

things

consumer overload

fashion weak

laundry day

rain damage

voodoo doll

shit

Finally, a skinny staircase leads me back downstairs and into the pitch blackness of the foyer, where my camera flashes and illuminates a deer head mounted on the wall above me, startling me almost to death. A massive wooden shelf is blocking the front door, stuffed with books and board games, under the watchful eye of the deer.

under the weight of it all

the descent

deer john

A few shaky steps forward, I open the door and find myself on the other side of the great divide of Mt. Clothing. One of these front rooms appeared to be a study at one point in time, still filled with decorations and trinkets, buried under the pain of losing a loved one.

The Great Divide

swag

Lifes Clock is indeed still.

The Last Supper

In a corner, i reach down and spin an old globe, kicking a cloud of dust into the atmosphere around the world, and then I retrace my steps up and around and down, slowly traversing the unstable ground of the valley floor.

At the door, I stop one last time to look around, hold a deep breath, and snap these final images of the filthy kitchen.

shelf life

bad bacteria

Back outside, the air never tasted fresher.

With the loss of a spouse, a lifelong partner, best friend and soul mate, we are left with nothing but time. Memories are not enough to hold onto, and eventually we lose those as well. My interpretation of the story told by this home, is that the surviving spouse couldn't let go of anything, knowing all too well that it can never come back. True love is a magical and beautiful thing, to that I can attest, but the loneliness that love leaves behind is my greatest fear.

Unfortunately, this is how love stories end.

Bobcaygeon House of Hoarding

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Friday, October 14, 2011

Abandonment Issues: Knox United Church

Knox Church was constructed on Wolfe Street, between Park and Rubidge, in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1910. Within a few years, the body of the large church was added and this portion of the building became known as Keith Hall, a multi-purpose community centre.

Laying the corner stone 1910

The original Knox United Church / Keith Hall

Knox United Church Peterborough, 
Ontario

Knox United Church

In 2011, one hundred and one years after the church opened, the congregation at Knox United Church had dwindled and shrunk to an unsustainable low, from over four hundred to a mere forty, and the church was shut down by the United Church of Canada.

A potential deal quickly emerged to sell the property to a local community drop-in centre, but the neighborhood went into an uproar about the unsavory characters that would attract, and coincidentally, the deal fell through. The United Church is still hoping to attract a buyer, and as I found out, is currently renting space to several community groups, a catering company and other interested parties. Although it is far from being abandoned, it has lost its intended function, and its future is unknown. With the church actively seeking a buyer, it seemed important to document this magnificent structure in its current state before it is purchased and renovated into god knows what.

Most of the stained glass had been covered with thick plastic on the outside, I noticed, after ringing the doorbell. The gentleman that I had spoken with previously answered the door, with a smile, a handshake and a warmth that stayed with us for almost two hours. He answered all of our questions, discussed our own religious inexperience with no judgment, and best of all, allowed us to meander throughout the church extensively, with his company. He even allowed me to climb up into the old tower that no one had been into for decades, and climb around in the ultra-tight inner workings behind the organ, which was truly awesome. Unfortunately, it was so tight, I regretfully didn't bring the camera into the organ. He allowed us to poke around in back rooms, including the choir rehearsal room, which was now filled with Christmas storage and church memorabilia. He showed us artifacts and memorabilia donated to the church over the century that it served the community, and told us about his efforts to contact the kin of such donors, that have long since left the flock, to return these items. He took us into the locked minister's study and basement, and showed us every marriage certificate in the churches history. As we perused a plethora of historic photographs, he offered an elegant and timely narrative. He even chuckled when I jokingly referred to his beloved church as The Church of Hard Knox.

Upon exiting, we thanked him for his time and graciousness and offered one last series of questions that only time will ever answer...

Have the sheep lost their way, or has the Shepard? Is the flock doomed, or are they finally free?

Welcome to Knox United Church
Knox United Church lobby

MISSING: Congregation
MISSING: Congregation

the last sermon
the last sermon

the view from here
the view from here

organic
Organic

walking down the aisle
walking down the aisle

thy will be done
thy will be done

my grace is sufficient for thee
my grace is sufficient for thee

when the music stops
when the music stops

stairway to heaven
stairway to heaven

ascending
ascending

nailed to a cross
nailed to a cross

ladder to heaven
ladder to heaven

Goliath
Goliath

Knox Marriage Register July 1907 - Jan 1920
Knox Marriage Register July 1907 - Jan 1920

lead us not into temptation
lead us not into temptation

God grant me the serenity...
God grant me the serenity...

Scotch Banquet at Knox (Keith) Hall September 22nd, 1911
Scotch Banquet at Knox Hall (Keith Hall) September 22nd, 1911

Keith Hall August 12, 2010
Keith Hall

front and centre
front and centre

HOLY BIBLE Revised Standard Edition
HOLY BIBLE Revised Standard Edition

Ministers Study
Ministers Study

no one's arc
no ones arc

burning in hell for eternity
burning in hell for eternity

the best seat in the house of god
the best view in the house

upper level
upper level

Knox hockey team
Knox United hockey team

Knox Church Athletic Assoc.
Knox United hockey team

Fiftieth Anniversary 1910-1960
Fiftieth Anniversary 1910-1960

Are you last to leave the church?
Are you last to leave the church?

********* UPDATE *********
***February 22nd, 2016 ***

When the sale of the church was announced just over a year ago, I was ecstatic, as it was sold to an independent developer that planned to convert the space into desperately needed low income housing.

Unfortunately I dropped the ball on this one and didn't return until yesterday. The interior demolition has long since been finished and construction looked to be nearing completion.

I was lucky to arrive at the moment I did, because as I introduced myself to the foreman/owner he told me that his wife loves my blog and showed him this post last night. He was a very kind man with a lot of passion for not only this project, but the City of Peterborough. He gave me a guided tour of the entire building and shared specifics on the construction process and materials used.
He informed me that the building will have 42 single occupancy low income units, made up of 1 bedroom and bachelor, as well as 5 specially designed wheelchair units.

The apartments all have a very clean modern feel blended perfectly with the historic elements that make this building so special. Sunlight shines brightly through the tall arched windows in the units and much of the stained glass has been preserved in the hallways. A second floor has been added already and some units have already been spoken for. Occupancy date is scheduled for June 1st, 2016.

Thank you Paul.

click here to check out all of jerm & ninja IX's ABANDONMENT ISSUES