# House 105, Summertime



## UrbeX (Aug 20, 2010)

THIS is the place which got me interested in urbex/photography.
A few doors down from my own house, number 105 has been abandoned for over twenty years now. I was born in this street, and have never seen anyone living in this place.

Rumour has it that the lady who lived here married a wealthy man, and simply up and left the house, leaving all her belongings behind; even her plants in the kitchen and magazines on the living room table. The council have been trying unsuccessfully to contact her to purchase the house, but all attempts have been fruitless. The only time the council has been able to set hands on the property was a forced attempt to clear the overgrown front and back gardens.

Sadly, in the council's activity, the interior of the house was majorly messed around. I only thought to take the photos AFTER the raid, which I'm very disappointed about.

Still, I'll let you see for yourselves. 



The view of the freshly cleared garden from my own house.
There is a concrete structure in the centre which I suspect is an old permanent washing line support, since it appears to have a hole through the top. The garden used to boast a wilderness of bushes, weeds, a derelict shed and even an olive grove from where the neighbours threw olive stones over the wall over the last decade. However, that was all cleared under council orders.
This is a pity, because the garden of this house was where a good deal of local wildlife resided.
I will point out now that there is no way into the garden bar climbing over a neighbour's fence, and the back door to the house is firmly locked and, thankfully, intact, although the ceiling insulation in the kitchen has fallen through to the floor.





The front of the house. Note that it is not detached, so there is no way in from this side either. This is why, despite being left alone for so long, the house is still in pretty good shape.





The mat at the front of the house, which has, amazingly, sat there for decades without being stolen. I will admit, however, that at first glance the house doesn't look so much derelict as badly cared for, which is probably why it remains. The plaster on it is from the top of the doorway, which is flaking badly. The whole doorway has a creepy atmosphere, which gave me the shivers whenever I stood there!





The fuse box. I'm not sure when the cover got removed, but it was fairly recently as I distinctly remember it being covered before. My guess is that it was removed to possibly shut off the electricity to the house at some point.
The front garden is in much better shape now that the amazingly overgrown bush (which had actually broken through the fence) has been removed, but now it's home to a small field of forget-me-nots, which attract a lot of bees. It's very pretty in the summer.





A view into the front corridor and stairway from the front door. This was taken through the letterbox, as there is no way into the house.
The mail there has been unsorted for at least three to five years, and the pile there is small in comparison to before it had been partially cleared by the council - that pile had been fifteen years' worth at least.
As you can spot, there are still official-looking letters which are probably addressed to the missing owner of the house.





A view of the corridor leading into the kitchen area. From what I remember seeing when I got into the garden once during some construction work, the kitchen is unnaturally small, unless there is a hidden area that I couldn't see from my vantage point!
In the kitchen, a few potted plants had been left on the side, and with no disturbance for decades, had been preserved beautifully with their skeletal leaves... Until the hulking council workers came and shoved them all into a bin bag... And left them in the living room. Why?!
There is still some decoration left in the halls, as you can see.
Apologies for the angle, but this was the best view I could get from outside the house.





Finally, the living room of the house.
This used to be beautifully arranged, until the council workers romped through and rearranged everything. On the left side of the room, there is a bin bag filled with various 'rubbish' items from around the house and dumped in this room. I honestly don't see what that achieved in the least. Why put it in the bin if you aren't going to take it away?
The fireplace is lovely, and the room was originally set out with the sofa facing the window and the television (now taken away) backed up against the outer wall.
I've been wondering what that object is on the back table for ages now... Any ideas?




The curtains upstairs, old lace now. I know there are many wonderful treasures upstairs too, and I long to be able to coax a tour from my neighbours (who own a key) sometime soon so I can take a look!





Thank you! I hope I did everything right! ^^


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## godzilla73 (Aug 20, 2010)

Whooa! That is really quite strange. Excellent details though. The guy she married must have been loaded to just up and leave it like that.
Nice!
GDZ


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## Potter (Aug 20, 2010)

I so want to see more of this.

What was the telly like?


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## UrbeX (Aug 20, 2010)

*RE: Potter*



Potter said:


> What was the telly like?



It was fairly old, from what I could see it looked like it was from the 70s.
I'm not sure how long the lady had been living in the house, so I can't say for certain how long she had the TV for before she left in the 80s.

I would try to take a closer look at it, but it's annoyed me to no end that it's been moved! I'm assuming it's been taken away, but if I'm incredibly lucky, it might just have been moved to another part of the house...


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## Foxylady (Aug 21, 2010)

Wow, that place has got a great atmosphere. I hope you can get a tour as it would be great to see more.
I don't understand what right the council think they have to just go in like that, if the house is privately owned. I'd be tempted to make a complaint about them if I was the neighbour with the key. Yeah, and I've also noticed before how some council workers do seemingly illogical things...mostly spiteful and stupidly so.
Cheers, UrbeX.


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## Potter (Aug 25, 2010)

Yes, good point. Why would they remove the TV and nothing else in the room? Yes, could be still there given all the stuff they've moved. Or maybe one of them took it as he wanted it.


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## UrbeX (Aug 26, 2010)

Potter said:


> Yes, good point. Why would they remove the TV and nothing else in the room?



Chances are it might just have been an incredibly delayed repossession, because as far as I know the previous occupant hasn't kept up paying the bills; so she probably hasn't renewed her TV license.

It could also be a ploy to discourage thieves if it has just been moved elsewhere, because it was directly underneath the window in what is now a clearly abandoned house. Before the front garden was cleared out, the window was unapproachable unless you were willing to dive into a thick, thorny, creepy-crawly infested bush about five foot high, and no one wants to risk peering through the letterbox in case there really are people home!
But now the bush is gone, it's easy to peek inside and notice that the house is totally empty, so the TV was bound to be nicked at some point if it had been left.


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## Foz77 (Aug 28, 2010)

Fascinating history. Its like the Mary Celeste!!


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## Em_Ux (Aug 28, 2010)

Enjoyed your pictures and story.
Be good if you could get in to take some more pics!


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## gary1979 (Sep 9, 2010)

get the key, get the key!!, id love to have a nose round that house!


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