The County Bandits

The Accomplice and I went out for a daytime tour back in early November and were able to photograph six beautiful abandoned houses. Some were already known to us, and a few were brand new discoveries that made our hearts beat a little bit faster when we spotted them. Our absolute favorite house from this tour was near London, somewhere in the country just outside of the town of Lobo (a town I had no idea existed until the moment we drove through it). But, first things first! I will post the photos in the order which we photographed them.

This small brick farmhouse sits along Highway 2, now known as Longwoods Road. The Accomplice and I first discovered it back in 2007, and at that time we stopped and explored the property. It appeared that the house was being used by the owner but wasn’t inhabited. We did not venture any further at that time and never managed to take any photos of the place until now, even though we have passed it countless times in our normal travels. There are several barns on the property, and I used to admire the lightning rod balls on the smaller barn. When taking these pictures, I noticed someone had removed the lightning rods entirely from that barn. I’d like to believe it was the property owner, but the more likely situation is that it was copper thieves. Unfortunately I’ve noticed lightning rods disappearing from lots of abandoned places lately.

Taking decent photos of this impressive yellow brick Ontario farmhouse was a nearly impossible task. Located just off Courtright Line, the property was covered in giant mature trees that obscured most of the house. The only way I would have been able to get better photos would be to walk onto the property itself, which I wasn’t too keen on since it was the middle of the day and neighbors are close by. I had seen this house on a few trips to Grand Bend and Goderich, and admired it more and more each time I saw it. These yellow brick houses are my favorite and I’m jealous that those of us in Kent County don’t get to enjoy them like those in Lambton.

The third house we came across is the one I spoke of at the beginning of this post. When I saw it, I couldn’t believe someone had left it abandoned to rot away. It it simply one of the most beautiful houses I have ever laid eyes upon. The Accomplice and I dream about buying this one and saving it, but I’m afraid that’s just a dream. There is a hole in the roof and things are going downhill quickly for this beauty. I’m just glad we were able to take photographs of it and enjoy it before it’s gone. The amount of detailed gingerbread trim on this house and the incredible front door make me all the more sad that no one cares enough to fix it.

A simple, white sided farmhouse sits just off Highway 4 near Lambeth. The cluster of satellite dishes hanging from the porch had us questioning if it really was abandoned, but the overgrown laneway confirmed our suspicions. It’s not terribly exciting, but I felt it was worth noting all the same.

This white frame Ontario farmhouse is a common sight to anyone who takes the 401 from Chatham to London, as it basically sits on the Iona Road westbound on ramp. We have admired this sturdy old home for years, and have wrestled with how to go about getting photographs of it. The house sits so far back from Iona road it is impossible to take pictures that way, and standing on the side of the on ramp seems horribly dangerous. We settled for stopping on the overpass and I hopped out with a zoom lens and gave it my best shot. A couple of pictures focused on the tree, which I didn’t notice at the time since I was trying to be quick. The property is fenced and gated off, so these will have to do. Whoever owns it keeps the place in beautiful shape, even though it’s been empty for as long as my memory can recall.

The sixth and final house from our November tour is this farmhouse we found on a back road while heading home. The sun was setting, which made the colours in the photos really golden and vibrant. The house was fairly simple but beautiful, and the bricks had an odd pattern to them which you can see in the pictures. I enjoyed wandering around in the overgrown lawn until the Accomplice warned me of an approaching vehicle. The name of the road this home was on escapes me now, but it was somewhere not too far from Iona road and I *think* it started with a K. Not overly helpful, but maybe someone knows this house and knows the road name.

I hope you enjoyed these six abandoned house as much as we enjoyed finding and photographing them.

~Bandit