‘Feral houses’ in Detroit

Via a link on Murdoc Online, I was introduced to Sweet Juniper!, a blog by a Detroit husband-and-wife team. It makes for interesting reading.

One of their recent posts dealt with what they call ‘feral houses‘. As the author put it:

I’ve seen “feral” used to describe dogs, cats, even goats. But I have wondered if it couldn’t also be used to describe certain houses in Detroit. Abandoned houses are really no big deal here. Some estimate that there are as many as 10,000 abandoned structures at any given time, and that seems conservative. But for a few beautiful months during the summer, some of these houses become “feral” in every sense: they disappear behind ivy or the untended shrubs and trees planted generations ago to decorate their yards. The wood that framed the rooms gets crushed by trees rooted still in the earth. The burnt lime, sand, gravel, and plaster slowly erode into dust, encouraged by ivy spreading tentacles in its endless search for more sunlight.

There’s more at the link.

To whet your appetite, here are a couple of the ‘feral houses’ they photographed for their article. (I won’t put up more than two, so as not to violate the ‘fair use’ provisions of copyright law, and not wanting to steal their thunder.)

Fascinating pictures! There are many more photographs at the link. Go on over there for some interesting viewing – and while you’re at it, spend some time reading past articles on their blog. Recommended.

Peter