URBEX: Abandoned Buildings You Dream of Renovating


When you've been urban exploring enough and also have a dream of a small place in the middle of nowhere, you begin to look at these desolate places as potential homesteads.


Here's some of my favorite fantasies - 



This huge store facing the New River in Hinton, West Virginia was once a gas station with a fine candy store, and later a bait shop and who knows how many other incarnations.

But inside it was sturdy and large and had a gorgeous view of the river. I could imagine making this into a plush Bed and Breakfast with fishing gear in the foyer and industrial-fashioned rooms with wood-burning stoves.



This wee cabin in a field near Sandstone Falls in West Virginia was a quiet location but near the river. It seemed like it could have a large garden, lots of wildlife, and a serene Thoreau'esque attitude.




This adorable little cottage was at the end of the bridge going into Hinton, WV over the New River.  Below, water splashed and this adorable Victorian-style place was walking distance to everything. 



Along a quiet inlet of the Chesapeake in Southern Virginia, this clapboard house screamed to me to be renovated, painted, and a wee balcony in the attic where a master suite with some skylights would make great storm watching.




Pull back some of the invading plant life, paint it white, a new roof, and this adorable farmhouse in the Gloucester area of Virginia would have wonderful growing fields and lots of memories to be made.



Then there's these amazingly huge finds, like this flour mill in Mesa, Arizona that makes me ponder - a rooftop pool, an absinthe speakeasy, and a crazy popular dive.




My favorite so far was this house in Maryland along a quiet country road. The area was beyond gorgeous and so peaceful. It had a great view, good bones, and a second story porch as well as a lower level porch. With a little neatening up, this would be a forever home that suits my needs. 


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