Tucked away in an overgrown woodland somewhere in rural Georgia, this curious, dilapidated property is a relic of a time long gone. Still filled with the vestiges of its former owners, who include an antique car collector, it's a treasure trove just waiting to be unlocked.
Click or scroll on to step inside this languishing historic home and discover the diamonds lurking beneath the decay – just wait until you see what's hiding in the garage...
All dollar values in US dollars
Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast photographed the neglected property, and its seven acres of grounds, in all its faded grandeur in June 2023.
Stepping into the one-storey home's front porch, it's evident nobody has lived here for a very long time. Dead leaves, cotton bolls and insidious ivy cover the floor, while the home's clapboard siding is showing signs of rot and looks to be in pretty bad shape.
Amid the detritus, the porch is dotted with rocking chairs, wicker yard furniture and a handsome wooden settle bench, which would have been the perfect spot for past residents to kick back on a balmy summer's evening with an iced tea or mint julep.
There's also a rusty old barbecue that evidently hasn't been fired up for some time, along with a jumble of other discarded furnishings.
The crumbling property dates from 1918 according to official records, though its sorry condition makes it appear somewhat older.
The home's architecture is vernacular in style and features a hipped roof with a square cupola at its centre, as well as extra-large sash windows. These design features promote stack and cross-ventilation and would have helped keep the property cool during Georgia's hot and humid summers back in the days before AC. Now let's explore the interior...
The front door opens directly into the parlour. Interestingly, the house has no hallways, which again allows for efficient cross-ventilation.
Despite this, rising damp has clearly made a home here in more recent years. Excess moisture has caused the paint to peel off the walls and ceiling of this once-grand space. The furniture, including a number of winged velvet armchairs, has definitely seen better days. However, the elegant sideboard still looks to be in good condition.
The armchair on the right in this photo was presumably taped up by the former owner, indicating the property may have been in a poor state of repair even before it was abandoned.
Like the rest of the house, the room is a veritable time capsule. It appears the property was deserted abruptly, judging by the plethora of furniture and personal items left behind. The fireplace wasn't even cleared out and still contains the cremated logs from when it was last used.
While the furnishings are languishing, they were evidently fine pieces in their prime.
The Louis Philippe-style sofa on the left is especially in need of a revamp. The upholstery is torn, revealing the stuffing, while the floral pattern has been bleached by the sun. The green leather sofa on the right looks to be in better shape, however, judging from those peeling walls, the room and its contents are likely vying with mildew.
Now we come to the heart of the property: the living room. It's located in the centre of the house and is crowned by the aforementioned square cupola, which has windows that open on two sides.
In the home's more structurally sound heyday, the impressive architectural feature would have accommodated stack ventilation, letting hot air rise, cooling the space. Whoever thought out the design of the property was certainly savvy about passive cooling techniques – especially important in Georgia's humid climate.
On the other side of the room, a beautiful piano stands miraculously untouched by the sands of time. It's a Mathushek piano, featuring ornately carved legs and a glossy wood veneer. A pair of beautiful blue lamps flank the instrument at either end.
It's a curious scene considering the disarray around the piano. Piles of debris, perhaps strips of cladding or wood from the ceiling overhead, litter the floor. Surprisingly, the wood wainscotting that envelops the space appears to still be in reasonable condition.
Elsewhere, the kitchen is a relic from a bygone era. Patterned valance curtains frame the windows, while peeling botanical wallpaper covers the splashback. The cabinets, which look as though they date from the 1970s, are intact but the finish is peeling away.
The same can't be said for the ceiling, which has collapsed in parts, revealing the timber beams of the roof. Its remains can be seen on the linoleum floor and on top of the vintage 1980s dishwasher.
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The kitchen cupboards still hold plenty of crockery and Tupperware, including an array of decorative mugs. A box of Coca-Cola bottles sits on the wooden dresser on the left here, while a small cylinder of Comet bleach powder can be seen next to the sink.
It isn't visible in these photos but there's a calendar hanging in the room that's dated 2008, which gives some indication as to when the property was last occupied.
The built-in stainless steel wall oven appears to be the oldest appliance in the kitchen. A classic Westinghouse model, it dates from the 1950s.
These robust ovens are renowned for their longevity and it's not uncommon to come across newer iterations of the sturdy appliances in modern American homes. They really don't make 'em like they used to, that's for sure.
The years haven't been kind to the vintage Rangaire hood, which has succumbed in parts to rust, while the grease-caked extractor has dropped down and is hanging by the skin of its teeth. The hob is in a poor state, too.
Note the Bradford Spices pepper tin: it dates from 1981 and was sold together with a vintage-style salt tin. Next, let's check out the home's bedrooms.
Once an ideal family home, the property has four bedrooms in total. The first we encounter features a dramatic, double four-poster bed, as well as a single bed. The bed linen is still neatly laid where the last residents left it, adding to the impression that the house was swiftly abandoned.
On the left of the photo is an old wooden chest of drawers with several items scattered across the top. Let's take a closer look.
Among the assorted objects is a figurine of St Francis of Assisi, a treasure-hunting book for kids and a ticket stub for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets versus the Maryland Terrapins football game that took place on 12 October 1991, at the Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.
Another blast from the past is the Clinton-Gore campaign button from 1992, which alludes to the former owner's political persuasion.
This bedroom looks like it could have been the master. It features a solid wood, Louis XV-style sleigh bed, which appears to be in good shape, with its intricately carved headboard and footboard. There's also a simple, whitewashed brick fireplace in the room, but it's not clear whether the chimney pipe is open or sealed.
Signs of decay are seeping into the room. The ceiling panels have all but come away and the wooden roof slats have been exposed.
This bedroom features the same blue, 1980s shagpile carpet as the first one we came across. There's a modest single bed in the room, as well as an unusual leather sofa nestled in an ornate wooden frame.
This corner room would have probably been one of the coolest in the property before the introduction of air conditioning, with the double-aspect windows letting in a refreshing breeze. The white undulating pelmets are another indicator of the last time the home was decorated.
This large and light-filled bedroom looks to be a child's room given the assortment of teddy bears and the pram.
There's a wood-frame single bed, an American Empire-style sofa and other choice pieces of antique furniture in the room, as well as numerous vintage items, which would probably fetch decent prices these days if they were put up for auction.
One of the most charming things about this room is the assortment of multicoloured crayon drawings of chairs, a lamp and plants that are scrawled across the walls, no doubt by a child who once lived in the house.
Unfortunately, the room's structural integrity looks to be somewhat questionable. There are several ominous-looking cracks in the walls, which doesn't bode well for the future.
This little corner of the bedroom is a vintage-lover's delight, from the Art Deco chest of drawers to the mid-century scalloped armchair in fetching chartreuse, and best of all, that fabulous Philco Predicta Pedestal TV.
Dating from 1958, the space-age set was marketed as “the TV of tomorrow” and cost a hefty $459.95, which translates to almost $5,000 (£4k) in today's money.
Looking around the room, there's a green rotary phone from the 1950s perched on the bedside table. Next to it is a pair of 1980s round spectacles and a beautiful, antique leather-bound family bible.
The window behind is ajar, cobwebs obscuring the panes. This bedroom looks out onto the front porch – you can just make out the frames of the wicker chairs.
According to official records, the house has two bathrooms, but we only have photographs of one. It's a quintessentially 1980s bathroom, with white tiled walls edged in black. The elaborate, pink ruched curtain hanging in the sash window is indicative of that particular era.
The bathroom is in a poor state, with the bathtub filled with debris and plaster from the crumbling walls and ceiling. But just wait until you see the next room...
It's hard to tell what this part of the house once was, but the structural fabric has completely collapsed, leaving it open to the elements. The ceiling has caved in and the wall has fallen to pieces.
The longer the property is left abandoned, the more rundown it'll inevitably end up and while many of its contents are salvageable at present, that isn't likely to be the case for much longer.
Now let's slip through the gaping hole in the wall and take a look at the property's pièce de résistance in the backyard...
That's right, the former owner, an antique car collector, left behind his prized fleet of classic vehicles, though like the house, they've seen better days. Once stored in wooden garages, the structures have spectacularly collapsed. Nevertheless, there are still some beauties to be found...
On the left, is a gorgeous – albeit beaten-up – Buick Super 8 convertible from 1950 in mint green. The open-top stunner may very well have been in reasonable condition when the house was abandoned sometime around 2008, but it has deteriorated over the years and was partly crushed at some point by a falling tree.
To the side of the garages is another vintage auto gem: a Buick Roadmaster two-door sedanette from 1947, which was a premium model, a rung above the Super 8. Sadly, this is the most rusty automobile in the collection and would probably be quite a challenge to restore as a result of being kept outside for so long.
Peering into the interior, the car's dashboard and steering wheel are actually in fairly good condition, which is a surprise.
Returning servicemen from the Second World War sparked a boom in car sales during the late 1940s and Buicks sold like hotcakes. In 1947, total production soared to 272,827 units, up from 153,627 in 1946, with around 18,983 Roadmaster two-door sedanettes made that year.
There's also a 1949 Buick Roadmaster two-door sedanette hidden away on the property not far from the garages. Buick redesigned its lineup that year, which helped further drive sales. Overall production numbers jumped to 409,138 units as America's post-war auto industry boom went from strength to strength. Now let's step inside one of the garages.
The wood across the ceiling of this garage appears to be rotting, yet unlike the adjacent structure, it hasn't yet collapsed.
The space accommodates two vintage stunners. On the left is a 1958 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe DeVille in alpine white. A real head-turner, this classic automobile is as flashy and over-the-top as they come, with bold and brash design features, from the supersized tail wings to the old-school taillights.
Sharing this part of the garage with the Coupe DeVille is a 1952 Packard Patrician 400, which was the long-defunct automaker's premium model – a special find for any avid car collector.
The car retailed for $3,662, which equates to around $42,000 (£34k) when adjusted for inflation. Only 3,975 units of the 1952 Packard Patrician 400 were produced, which makes this the second-rarest automobile in the collection.
Packard hired renowned interior designer Dorothy Draper to advise on colours for the cabin of the car, which the automaker went to town on, opting for plush Wilton carpeting, fine leather seating and hassock-style rear passenger footrests.
Considering the scarcity of the model, it's a big shame this vehicle has been left to the ravages of time and nature. We wonder if the home's former owner regularly took their impressive collection for a spin, or if the fleet was purely for admiring.
The most venerable car in the collection is this 1939 Buick Limited, which languishes in part of the second garage that's completely collapsed.
This elegant automobile is the rarest in the collection. Only 1,451 units of the standard version rolled off the assembly lines that year, while the six-passenger variant is even rarer, with a mere 378 produced. It's unclear which model this is, but regardless, it would pique the interest of auto enthusiasts today.
While the collection may be in rough shape, it features some real gems. In all likelihood, it's probably worth quite a bit of money to the right buyer.
Despite the antique treasures hiding in the backyard, this enigmatic house continues to languish. Little is known about the acreage's current owners and what, if anything, their plans for the property's future might entail.
One thing's for sure, this crumbling residence is running out of time, with Mother Nature fast reclaiming its fabric. Here's hoping the home's stand-out architecture and magnificent antique car collection can be saved and restored to their former glory.
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