The mantelpiece gives this house its name. Postcards stand in a row along the top of the fireplace, with seashells and photographs beside them, the small kept evidence of trips to the coast. Nothing in the room is labelled, and no date is written on anything the photographs show, but the arrangement itself is the point: someone came home from the seaside and put the proof where they would see it every day.
The house is Lodge Farm, photographed by Luke2Explore, and the post that published the pictures says it was once the home of an elderly couple who loved to travel. That is the whole biography the post gives. No names, no address, and no year for when the couple lived there are stated, and none are added here.
What the couple actually kept
Travel is the first thing the house says about its owners, and it says it twice over. The postcards and shells on the fireplace and drawers are the souvenirs of trips away, and a glass-fronted vitrine filled with encyclopedias and books on travel, gardening and science is the quieter half of the same habit: a reader with varied interests, as the post puts it. One set of objects proves where they went. The other proves what they liked to read about when they were home.
The rest of the house fills in the daily side of that life. Colourful carpets and curtains, quirky lampshades, pinecones set in little bowls on windowsills, shelves and trays, clay pots, vases and figurines — the post describes a home that still feels like a home, frozen in time. That phrase is doing honest work here. The rooms do not look staged or emptied. They look paused, with the small decorative habits of a lived-in house still sitting exactly where they were left.
Two kinds of souvenir
It helps to separate what the house keeps into two kinds, because they prove different things. The postcards and shells are souvenirs from elsewhere: they say the couple went out into the world and brought pieces of it back. The pinecones, clay pots and figurines are souvenirs from close to home: they say the couple also paid attention to the garden, the windowsills and the shelves around them. A house that keeps both kinds is a house whose owners looked outward and inward with the same care, and that is a more interesting claim than either kind makes on its own.
The photographs in this article show both kinds side by side. The fireplace photograph has the postcards on the mantel and a floral sofa, a radio and a small table crowded beside it. The dining photograph shows a table under a green cloth. A wooden chest topped with books and an old sewing machine complete the set. None of these objects is valuable in the way an auction catalogue means valuable. Their value is that they are still arranged, still in place, still telling the same story the post tells.
Found in a forgotten album
There is a second story here, about the photographs themselves. The explorer visited Lodge Farm in 2022 and only came across these pictures later, on an old picture album he had forgotten about. He notes, with some understatement, that his photography skills have improved since then. That admission matters, because it dates the photographs honestly: these are 2022 pictures, rediscovered, not a fresh visit.
The post adds one more update, and it is the kind of sentence that has to be quoted carefully. Since the explore a few years ago, it is believed that the house has been saved. Believed, not confirmed. No buyer, no rescue plan and no restoration is named in the post, and none is claimed here. What can be said is that the house was still standing, still furnished and still recognisable when photographed, and that the person who photographed it believes it has since been saved.
For readers who want the contrast with a house that is lived in and on the market, see this 1902 home in Alexandria, Minnesota, where the questions are about upkeep and price rather than about what a lifetime of travel leaves behind. More houses in this state are gathered in the Abandoned Houses category, and the site’s front page is abandoned.blog.
FAQ
Where is Lodge Farm?
The post names the house Lodge Farm but gives no location beyond that, and no address is given here.
Who lived in the Post Cards House?
According to the post, an elderly couple who loved to travel. No names are given in the post or here.
What is actually in the house?
Postcards, photographs and seashells on the fireplace and drawers, a vitrine of encyclopedias and travel, gardening and science books, colourful carpets and curtains, pinecones in bowls, clay pots, vases and figurines, a sewing machine and a dining table, as shown in the photographs.
When were the photographs taken?
The explore was in 2022, according to the post. The pictures were later found on an old album the explorer had forgotten about.
Has the house been saved?
It is believed so, according to the post. No rescue, buyer or restoration is confirmed in the post, and none is claimed here.
Is the house for sale?
Not stated in the post. No price, listing or sale status is given 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/the-abandoned-post-cards-housethis-house-was-once-the-home-of-an-elderly-couple-/1544034867762196/ — 5 of the 17 photos are shown here.
