Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » feral houses by sweet juniper

for years i’ve been following the blog sweet juniper, admiring both wood and dutch’s voices and their stories about raising a family in detroit. i was tickled pink to run their gorgeous modern home on the site, and then dutch’s fantastic detroit city guide, and today i’m equally happy to post some photos from an incredible post on sweet juniper featuring dutch’s photos of “feral houses” in detroit.

dutch has an incredible way with photography and capturing the beauty- and sadness- in so many of the decaying structures in detroit. these homes in particular caught my eye and i felt this immediate urge to write a story for each one of them, imagining the people, and the lives, that existed within each. i can’t remember the last time i felt compelled to actually sit down and write a piece of fiction, but these photos really tug at my heart strings for some reason. thanks to sweet juniper for the years of inspiration- click here to check out the full post on feral houses…

[all images from sweet juniper]

Wonderful post Grace.
I was in Detroit yesterday and was think to myself how those long abandoned are both sad and beautiful. They also make me wish I could see the way the city once was when when people were building all those big homes.

So sad but also so beautiful! We have entirely too many buildings like that in my town and I’m feeling the need to document them now and as they continue to decay. I hesitate to say “cool”, but… cool!

I love these photos. There is definitely an air of mystery about abandoned houses–who once lived there, why did they leave, etc.

This also makes me think of the book The World Without Us, which describes what would happen if people suddenly disappeared. I guess this is a bit of a visual preview.

Interesting that the house in that first photo, obviously neglected beyond any repair, gives such a compelling feeling of hope….

I think you’d like David Schalliol’s amazing Isolated Building Studies: http://tinyurl.com/schalli
There’s interesting detail on his process here: http://www.derivativeworks.com/2007/06/david_schalliol.html

They’re thought-provoking…

thanks for the kind words grace!

sadly, the house in the first photo is gone. When I went to document the growth this summer, all I found was an empty lot. this may seem hard to believe, but that house was on a canal and had its own boat slip out back!

While reading this post I was thinking the same thing as Elaine. Growing up I always imagined fixing up the amazing farmhouses we would pass as we drove through the country in NC. Thanks for sharing these prevoking images!

The first time I came across Sweet Juniper I was glued to my computer for 3 straight days, reading every article and pouring over all the photos. It resulted in an appointment with the chiropractor! Detroit is so full of fascinating history, decay and beauty. Before Sweet Juniper, I may have never imagined visiting Detroit, but now it is at the top of my wish list!

Oh, Detroit, so sadly beautiful. Some of these photos, including the pics on Sweet Juniper are just amazing! Time magazine has some photos on their site of abandoned buildings in Detroit that are really incredible! The series is titled Detroit’s Beautiful, Horrible Decline. Oh, Time, you sure know how to make a gal feel special! http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1882089,00.html

Oh Detroit, my sad hometown. When I was a kid living in one of the nicer blocks on the east side, my dad would drive us around all the burnt-out neighborhoods and say “this is where ignorance gets you”. I think about that every time I see pictures like this. So much potential, just wasted. Not to be all doom and gloom..they really are lovely shots. But they break my heart.

As a geek of urban geography on the inside who enjoys photography, local history, and cities, I totally enjoyed this blog and all of the sites that you all shared.

I think it’s great that photos are taken. I’m sure a similar take can be done for the partially developed suburbs that haven’t been completed due to the collapse of the real estate market.

I especially like the first photo with all the vines. Vines are the main source of imagery in my work, I am constantly taken in by nature’s ability to re-claim a space….these photos are a beautiful evidence of that.

I always want to fix up and save these houses, even the occupied ones. Houses are like people to me and they should all be clean and productive. Recently, a cottage house with fruit trees around and a view of fields of horses. People, take care of your houses!!

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