Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Old Brown House and the Little Bridge in the Deep Woods

This weekend we went for a visit to "The Old Brown House."  The Old Brown House is a historic abandoned house deep in the woods on our property.  I believe it was built in the early 1800s.  The weather was nice so we thought we'd see how it was doing.  I also was looking for a black vulture nest.  The vultures have been flying around this area quite a bit. 

I think it's kind of large for such an old house.  It has 4 large rooms, 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs.  No bathroom, no kitchen, just rooms.  There are 2 fireplaces so all the rooms had heat back when people used to live in it.  I really like this old house.


Here's The Old Brown House from the side view.  It's skinny, isn't it?


The poor old house is falling apart.  When I look at it I imagine the hands that built it.  Someone put all those boards in place with care.  I imagine the woods were all fields back then, and this was a working farm house.



In the corner of one of the rooms is a pile of old doors and windows.


Wait - look there!  What's that behind the door?  

It's a black vulture nest!

Black vultures are weird birds.  They don't make any kind of nest, they just lay their eggs on the ground.  The vultures were flying around overheard as we walked around inside the old house.  They were not happy with our visit.


I'll keep an eye on the vulture babies as they hatch and grow up.  I love vultures - they are good birds.


We walked outside The Old Brown House looking for the outhouse.  
I know there was once an outhouse, but have not been able to find it.  We figure it must have been destroyed.  It would be neat to find remnants of it.  

While we were walking around we found a turkey feather...


...And a big bunny rabbit.   

The rabbit wasn't afraid of us at all.  She just sat there.  We didn't disturb her, but walked around her carefully.  Maybe she had babies under her, who knows.


We also saw an old teapot.  I don't think this was that old - it certainly doesn't look like it's 200 years old.  There's a lot of trash in the woods where people dumped back in the 1980's.  We're always cleaning up trash.


As we left The Old Brown House we went by The Little Bridge in the Deep Woods.  
It's so cool - it's a little bridge in the middle of the woods.
Again it makes me think of the people who built it.  The bridge is old and falling apart now.  It sits on a dirt road and covers a tiny creek.  Maybe the creek was a larger stream at one time.




Well, that's it for this trip into the woods.  I'll keep an eye on the vulture eggs.  I can't wait to see the babies!

9 comments:

Farm Girl said...

Oh how lovely!!! I love that brown house and the bridge and the vultures. That is so incredible. It would be so much fun to restore something like that, if you had the time and money of course. What a incredible bit of history. Can you take a picture of the grave yard again? I think about it all of the time. I don't know why except I think of the lady alone in the woods. My sons were in here as I was reading your post, they were so impressed at your place.

Kessie said...

Thanks for the trip! The brown house is fascinating--who lived there, and how long ago? I wonder if there's any way find out? It's like being a detective on an old case.

LindaG said...

What a great old building. They could very well have done their cooking in the fireplace.
Or maybe it was used for storage and that's why you haven't found the outhouse.

The house that we are slowly trying to fix up, was three houses put together at one time.
You can kind of tell where they were attached at.
And while there is a kitchen now, it was said the houses were complete when brought together; which means some of them cooked in the fireplaces.
The house has 3 of them. And my husband remembers a wood stove was in one of the rooms. There's a chimney outside that room where the stove used to be.
Very neat when you can look in old buildings and not have them fall on you.

Have a blessed week!

Mary Ann said...

It hurts me to see old, abandoned houses. I love black turkey vultures too.. how majestic they are and what a service they do for us!

Country Girl said...

Can't say I share your love of vultures, but it will be fun to see the progress of the eggs and baby chicks. You'd better be careful next time. The mama may be protecting her babies! We saw a black vulture up close today. We have turkey vultures and the black ones too. I love the way they soar up high on the air currents. It's almost magical. -- Enjoyed your walk in the woods too!

12Paws said...

Super cool post. I, also have those same thoughts about old farm houses & barns. I live in rural farming area of Michigan's Thumb and have watched the old barns & houses slowly fade away until sometimes someone burns them down. I'm still watching a few that are left.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

What a wonderful building to have right on your property. Have you ever checked out the historical society or library to learn of its history? Wouldn't you love to hear the stories of the previous families who lived there!

Cindy Marlow said...

How wonderful! Tim and I explored that home several years before you purchased the property. We wondered if it might be a mail order home from Montgomery Wards or Sears. I'm glad to see that it is still standing.

Robin said...

I love the old house!!! It reminds me of some of the ghost towns I have walked through.