Babs was out and about on Halloween Sunday. She writes: The leaves are all gone, but it turned into a beautiful day and then I found this very nice old farm house north of here somewhere. I loved the tire swing and two pumpkins on the porch.
Me too, me too! This house was probably built in the 1880s or thereabouts, probably by a Civil War veteran. That tree looks like it’s been there all that time, too, doesn’t it? It’s the middle of the night or I’d call Babs and persuade her to tell me where she found the house. I’ll bet there are stories.
Posted in: Babs Young photos
Torch Lake Views 
Anna
November 1, 2010
I really like the old farmhouse photo with the big, old trees and tire swing, and the outhouse in the back. Nice shot and perspective. That house has a lot of stories to it.
Gerry
November 1, 2010
I’ll bet it does have stories. I’ll bet it’s just dying for someone to come along and listen to its stories.
Fee
November 1, 2010
I’ll bet that tree looks really spooky in the dark … conjuring up horror stories told to me by naughty older brothers about trees being able to chase people at Halloween! *shudder* No wonder I had nightmares!
Gerry
November 1, 2010
Now, see, I was thinking it was a very friendly, sheltering sort of tree. Although now that you mention it, the branches do look like long arms reaching out for . . . GAAHHHH!!
P.j. grath
November 1, 2010
The house is very typical of 19th-century Michigan farmhouses. One section would be built first, the second (two-story) section later, as finances permitted. I lived in a house in Barry County that looked identical to this one except for a porch in front of the single-story section. On our house, a wide board underneath the roof marked it as pre-Civil War, and I finally found the inhabitants from 1840, ’50 and ’60, resting peacefully in a country cemetery on a hill on a winding, back-country road.
Gerry
November 1, 2010
I long to know more about the research you did about that house in Barry County. Wouldn’t it be something of some of the people who lived there were related to some of the Civil War veterans who moved up here? (You see how I manage to bring everything back to my own obsession.)
P.j. grath
November 1, 2010
Gerry, we really do need to talk about researching local history. Right now I just have to add that where the outhouse is relative to this house, relative to my old house there was a very large barn. And off to what is the right-hand side of the house as you look at this picture, we had an old windmill. Down in that well pit I saw my first salamander in the flesh. It was in my garden behind the old house that I listened to the song of the song sparrow. My son and I learned about spittlebugs. You have brought back a lot of memories for me.
Gerry
November 2, 2010
I’m glad this post triggered all those memories. Babs’s photo of the old Dawson place (the yellow brick house) touched deep chords for people too.
Cindy Lou
November 1, 2010
It’s like an American Gothic photo….really good!
Gerry
November 2, 2010
That’s our Babs. She has an affinity for 19th century houses.
Nye
November 6, 2010
I bet it looks more scary at dusk and a ghost story to go with that.
Gerry
November 6, 2010
I’m beginning to think that photos by Babs are like the inkblots of the Rorschach test. All of us are drawn to old houses, and fill them with stories from our own imaginations or from our own life experiences. I look at the house and see cheerful pumpkins ready for Trick or Treat. Even at dusk. Of course I think of Bayview Cemetery as a cozy place, too. Hmm.