The House Down the Street

When I was a teenager there was this house about three blocks away from where I lived that was always, always up for sale. It was a tiny, ugly little concrete block structure with nothing much to recommend it, but people would buy the thing, move in for about a month, and then the next thing you know it would be up for sale again. A lot of times people would leave a lot of their possessions behind. It was very strange. I began to wonder if it was haunted.

But in all seriousness, a lot of people must have lost money on that house. I’ll always wonder what the story was behind its rapid turnover. I don’t know which confounded me more, its constant for sale status, or the fact that so many people were willing to step up and buy that eyesore in the first place.

Was it infested with mites? Was there some structural flaw that wasn’t immediately apparent? Were there dead bodies buried in shallow graves in the back yard, only to be revealed when one attempted to landscape? I will never know for sure, but I’d bet a week’s pay that if I drove down there today, 30 years later, that house would still be standing there, abandoned and much the worse for wear, an architectural monument to loneliness. And no doubt still up for sale.

Similarly, when I owned a house here in town there used to be a restaurant down the street that was constantly turning over. One month it would be a bar-b-cue joint. The next it would be a seafood place. Then it would be a deli. Ironically, some of these places were really, really good, and I’d be rather disappointed to see them go. Many and varied were the culinary delights that I sampled at that locale.

I know that the restaurant industry is harsh and highly competitive, and that more restaurants will fail than succeed, but seriously, this place was cursed. Clearly these were people who were using their hearts instead of their heads, because anyone who did their homework would have easily discovered that there had been at least 30 short-lived enterprises in that location, and they’d have to ask themselves why. I certainly would have before investing my money in a business there.

I honestly believe that buildings somehow carry their history within their brick and mortar. Some places you can walk into and they just feel creepy. Others are light and open and vibrant. Call it feng shui or psychic imprints or just a stinky septic system, but it’s best to look into a building’s past before you make it a part of your future.

[Image credit: modish-photography.deviantart.com]

Author: The View from a Drawbridge

I have been a bridgetender since 2001, and gives me plenty of time to think and observe the world. View all posts by The View from a Drawbridge