Terry discovered this rickety old house as we were driving along Highway NN near Slater, Missouri. Perched on a hill in the middle of the country, it is surrounded by rusting farm implements, a rusted out barbecue grill and evidence of agricultural activity that continues around it as it slowly sinks into the earth. It looks to me as though it could have been the inspiration for one of the sets for the Harry Potter movies.
As rickety as it appears in this photograph, it is almost impossible to capture the image as we first encountered it. The debris surrounding the house, and the utilitarian farm buildings built almost on top of it, detract from a more distant image.
In her heyday she must have been a beauty. Now she has been abandoned and is literally falling apart at the seams. While not the only house we saw in a shambles, she was the most elegant. As such, she captures most effectively, the tragic death of an elegant country residence and, at some level, the changing way of life in rural Missouri.
She was a grand lady.
Shifting the Balance 
Aha! I have been anticipating these pictures. What an amazing sight. Makes me understand how archaeologists find civilizations beneath civilizations. Passage ing in real time.
love recent history, when I see old buildings and the like I wonder about the people that used to live there what their life must of been like. that house seems to be saying I am old and lived a good life, now I must retire and return to the dust where I came.
I wonder as well. Since members of my family lived just a few miles from there I wonder whether they visited the house or knew the people who lived there. In an urban area it would be unlikely. But Slater is very rural and there are only a few old houses in the country. How could they not have known each other.
And what were their lives like? We’re they happy? How were they impacted vy the Civil War? Interesting questions.
amazing.
Great to hear from you. I am a faithful reader of Avidly. It is great.