The featured photograph is almost cheerful, and that is what makes it hard to look at for long. A yellow bungalow with a tiled roof stands under a bright sky, its garden overgrown, its windows dark. It looks like a house waiting for someone to come home. The Luke2Explore post that photographed it tells a different story, and it is told here only as the post tells it, with nothing added.
Ron, according to the post, was a farmer who worked on a family farm with his father and brothers. He lived in this bungalow with his wife until she died, then lived there alone, with carers visiting to help look after him, before moving into a care home, where he died after his 92nd birthday. The bungalow has been left abandoned for a good couple of years. His care bed and some of his items are still left inside.
That is a complete life in five sentences, and the photographs fill in only the last part of it. No surname, no farm name, no address, and no dates beyond the age at death are given in the post, and none are given here.
The last room, in the order the post gives it
Rather than rearranging the story, it helps to keep the post’s own order, because the order is the meaning:
- A working life: farming on a family farm, with his father and brothers.
- A shared life: living in the bungalow with his wife.
- A lone life: living there alone after she died, with carers visiting.
- A cared-for ending: moving into a care home, and dying after his 92nd birthday.
- An empty house: the bungalow abandoned for a good couple of years, with the care bed and other items still in place.
The second photograph shows that last stage without sentimentality: a bedroom with a care bed, an armchair, walking frames and a red carpet, sunlight coming through the windows. The following photographs narrow in — the care bed close up, with star bedding and an over-bed table; a rosary on the bedding; a recliner with an orange blanket and walking frames behind it. These are not grand objects. They are the furniture of a final stretch of life at home: a bed that could be adjusted, frames that helped a man stand, a chair for sitting, a blanket for warmth.
There is a temptation, with a story like this, to write a moral about old age or about houses outliving people. This article resists that temptation, because the post itself does not offer one. It offers a plain account and a sad feeling, and the feeling is the poster’s, reported here as such. What can be said, without inventing anything, is narrower and more useful: a house that ends this way does not end tidily. The things that supported daily life are the things that stay, because they belonged to a routine that stopped rather than to a move that was planned.
What “a good couple of years” leaves, and what it does not
“A good couple of years” is the post’s phrase for how long the bungalow has been abandoned, and it is deliberately vague. Vague is honest here. The photographs show overgrowth outside and a room inside that is dusty but still arranged. They do not show collapse, and they do not show a date. No condition survey, ownership information or sale status is given in the post, and none is claimed here. Anyone with a real interest in a building in this position would need local records and a local professional, and permission from whoever owns it now.
For the contrast with a house that is lived in and offered for sale, with a price and rooms to compare, see this 1902 home in Alexandria, Minnesota. That is a different world from this one: a house changing hands, not a house left where a life ended.
FAQ
Who was Ron?
According to the post, a farmer who worked on a family farm with his father and brothers, and who lived in this bungalow. No surname or further details are given in the post or here.
How long has the bungalow been abandoned?
For a good couple of years, according to the post. No exact date is given.
What happened to Ron?
According to the post, he lived in the bungalow with his wife until she died, then lived alone with carers visiting, moved into a care home, and died after his 92nd birthday.
What is left inside?
His care bed and some of his items, including walking frames, a recliner and bedding, according to the post and the photographs shown here.
Is the bungalow for sale?
Not stated in the post. No sale information is claimed here.
Can I visit it?
No visiting information is given here, and entering private property without permission is not encouraged.
Disclaimer
This article is general information only, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules on abandoned and private property differ by state and county; check county/local records and a local professional before acting.
Photos
Photos by Luke2Explore, via the original Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/Luke2Explore/posts/1453468223485528/ — 5 of the 14 photos are shown here.
