Abandoned Vermont: Bloomfield Church

Bloomfield, VT is a small crossroads on the Connecticut River. Across the bridge is Stratford, NH. The general store is closed and not many houses populate this town. This church sits next to the town offices, the former school. Based on the piles of boxes in the windows, the church is abandoned or sorely neglected and used for storage. This poor thing has seen better days (note the missing steeple). The neighbors’ stuff is piled in the rear and on one side of the building, so I didn’t snap photos of all elevations.

 

Churches seem to be common abandoned or neglected buildings. What can we do about these? Another topic for another time, perhaps.

Abandoned Vermont: Warren Mill

Found off Vermont Route 100 in Warren, this mill has gone through many reincarnations, but sits empty today. A brief history of this site, from History of the Town of Warren compiled by Katharine Carlton Hartshorn.

Fire, as well as high water, plagued the mill business. Palmer and Wakefield lost a mill by fire. Henry W. Brooks lost his by fire in 1947 and again in 1949. And the Bobbin Mill originally built by Erastus Butterfield in 1878 burned down in the early 1930′s when owned by Parker and Ford. They began rebuilding on a shoestring in 1932, but fire struck again before completion. It was finally rebuilt and run as a mill for twenty-five years. Under the ownership of Barry Simpson and David Sellers in 1974, the Bobbin Mill was again damaged by fire. It was rebuilt and became the birthplace of several manufacturing businesses, including Union Woodworks, Vermont Iron Stove Works, Vermont Castings, North Wind Power Company, and Dirt Road Company.

The mill showing damage and decay.

Hunter Bobbin Mill appears on the exterior.

The mill is composed of many blocks, likely additions from the various industries that have been located in the building.

The Double Press Cornice Brake. Industrial archaeologists: who can shed some light on this one?

The power source for operating the mill.

Twin Motor Electric.

Another view of the exterior, missing a few walls.

Around the corner.

Lincoln Brook Falls

Take a walk on the trail while you’re in the Mad River Valley. The water is blue and the rocks are worn from the falls, and even in the late fall, it was a peaceful (albeit chilly) place for a stroll.

Abandoned Vermont: Longmeadow Inn

The Longmeadown Inn sits quietly on US Route 5 in Wells River; 1832 on the sign refers to its construction date. Its hsitory is traveler based: inn, stagecoach stop, tavern, bed & breakfast. It’s for sale, so neglected is likely the more appropriate term than abandoned. But this building is included here because it has that historic & abandoned look about it, looking the same in March 2013 as it did in June 2012. Fortunately, it’s in good condition. Any interested buyers?

The inn’s sign welcoming travels.

A wide front porch for greeting and mingling.

The main brick block with ell and frame additions.

Looking up at the weathered brick and granite lintels and sills.

Around back, the additions don’t look any better. Note the array of fire escapes, too.

A view to the show the thickness of the brick wall construction. Look at the distance between the two window sashes.

Fire escapes on the side.

The building has a beautiful backdrop. The grounds have terraces that slope down to the river. It’s easy to see why an inn would be situated here, amongst the beautiful Vermont landscape.

Abandoned Vermont: Wolcott House

A house in Wolcott, Vermont sits on the bend in road, settled quietly and subtly into the landscape. Warm weather foliage hides much of its facade, but the colder months allow for improved views of the house. This appears to be another one whose owner/occupant began a significant renovation and have since stopped, for reasons unknown.

Wolcott, VT

Wolcott VT – See the new basement foundation?

This house is full of architectural details & original windows.

The doors and windows are secure and blocked. Someone still cares about this house.

Looking up at the entryway.

Side view.

Original window, storm, and shutter in disrepair.

Possibly a kitchen window over a sink on the interior. Maybe this window was simply turned 90 degrees (see the change in clapboard pattern).

Another view of the front and side, with the basement foundation.

Interior view through broken window. Organized and stripped, but work was ongoing at some point.

Plaster ceiling, beadboard, stacked wood.

Weathered clapboard.

The house appears square and in good condition still; here’s to hoping its owners return.

Preservation Photos #168

An abandoned house in rural Vermont, mostly trashed on the interior reveals pocket doors with Greek Revival details.

Abandoned Vermont: Barre House

Abandoned for what looks like decades, this house is long gone, looking even worse on the interior than it does on the exterior. The interior, sadly, has been destroyed, missing floors, walls, joists, everything. But this house remains a story sitting on the sunny hillside down a dirt road. At one point, people lived here and loved this house.

An Italianate style house.

The frame of an outbuilding remains.

Closer view. You can see the windows were once boarded up, but now have mostly been removed.

A small porch. Note how the coat of paint stops above the porch nearest the eaves, as though no one could reach there.

Some paint here, some paint there. And the glass is no more in most of the windows.

Weathered and partially painted.

Aside from being completely destroyed on the inside, the exterior clapboard has been removed in places.

And that is one reason why we document: to remember, to see the potential, to hope we can prevent this from happening to other abandoned or neglected homes.

Abandoned Vermont: Vergennes House

This striking 1796 Federal style house in Vergennes, Vermont is the General Samuel Strong House. It is a favorite mystery to many passersby. Unoccupied for decades, this house is more neglected than abandoned, but every Christmas season there is a fresh wreath on the door and the community keeps an eye on the house year round.

Christmas wreath on the front door.

View from the sidewalk.

From the street. In the foliage months, you can barely see the house.

The side entrance has been removed.

Rear of the house, where a porch previously existed.

Boarded up windows, but check out the lintels.

Classic clapboard shot with alligatoring paint.

And we are in luck. This house has been documented by the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) in 1936. Find photographs and floor plans here via the Library of Congress. Here is the house in better days:

The Samuel Strong House in Vergennes as documented for HABS/Library of Congress. Click for digital source.

 What a beauty.

Abandoned Vermont: Dover Schoolhouse

This one room schoolhouse sits on a dirt road in southern Vermont. It appears to be recently inhabited, though the current broken windows, messy interior and damaged foundation say that no one uses the building currently. However, it is far from gone and certainly worthy of preservation. It is one of the oldest structures in Dover.

The 1790 Little Red Schoolhouse in Dover, VT.

A garage addition.

The front entrance of the schoolhouse.

Above the door,

This 1790 schoolhouse was updated with large windows to meet new school standards, likely in the early decades of the 20th century.

Looking through a broken window you can see the original ceiling and added acoustic tile ceiling, historic light fixtures and a mix of furniture.

Have you seen any other 18th century schoolhouses where you live?

Preservation Pop Quiz & Abandoned Vermont

A double post: what is this abandoned structure? It is located in Florence, VT. The building is built into a hill, so the side not shown has only small windows. Any guesses?

Abandoned Vermont: Roxbury House

A beautiful house in Roxbury, Vermont that seems to be sound, strong and well-worth someone’s investment, albeit in need of some repairs. And it is in desperate need of an new color scheme, but that’s my entirely subjective opinion.

Roxbury house.

Side of the house and matching garage.

Front porch – someone fix that post!

Front entrance porch of the house.

One of the few original windows remaining on this house. The white vinyl replacements aren’t do the house any favors.

Stained glass window on the rear of the house.

Side porch.

Details everywhere.

Looking through a window.

Painted clapboards and weathered paint.

A large house this is, but a beauty. Anyone interested?