Not far away from where I live is a big old abandoned house. It has stone walls, frame less windows, a basement, and gigantic wooden support beams without a roof. Over the years I have watched it change like the seasons, weathering away slowly. It stands alone on a massive piece of wild property surrounded by vineyards and unruly oak trees. Certainly in its heyday the French owners knew how to live and work in such an isolated place. Today there is a highway that runs in front of it.
I don't know why it has been abandoned, most likely it is due to to an inheritance feud which is common in France with real estate, or maybe the owners just don't care to do anything with it. Whatever the case I imagine many people have asked about it, hoping they could buy it and restore it into a French dream home.
I couldn't live in this house, I am too big of a chicken to live alone in the middle of nowhere. But that doesn't stop me from imagining what I could do with it, or how I would restore it. Though my imagination leans more towards what type of French antiques use to be in this house, and how I wish they were still there!
As this two hundred plus year old house is situated in the middle of nowhere, with the nearest town about 10 miles away, the people who lived there had to be self sufficient and mostly practical. The style of the house is called a "Maison de Maitre." Which does not correspond with other homes in the middle of nowhere. Which leads me to believe (or wishful thinking,) that the habitants where slightly romantic as well.
Leave a Reply