Whilst browsing YouTube recently, I came across two “urban explorer” videos that visited an old, abandoned house. The house appeared to be a hoarder house that was filled with old discarded items (and a disgustingly bad bathroom), and that started me wondering about who had lived there and what their stories were.
The Abandoned House Videos by JPVideos
Who were the former occupants of this rubbish stacked abandoned house? Watch the videos for yourself, then read on to see if you agree with my conclusions.
Thank you to JPVideos for making these videos: https://www.youtube.com/@JPVideos81
After watching both videos, here are my own (rather drawn out) thoughts. Apologies for the slightly disjointed nature of some of the notes.
The Former Occupants of the Abandoned House
Over the years, this house was the family home to 3 generations of the same family, based on the number of discarded home appliances, and the juxtaposition of "modern" 80s tech with old furniture.
Generation 1 - Born 1925-1935
Generation 1 were likely born in about 1925-1935 and were into their big band and country music. It's impossible to say at what point they moved into this house, but around 1950 they had a son who they raised in this house. They tried to give him a leg-up in life with the encyclopaedia set and books on Latin that they'd purchased. I believe the diecast boys toys in the house were his, as they seemed quite old.
Generation 2 - Born 1945-1950
Their son (Generation 2) was a child of the 60s and 70s, as indicated by the KISS album (1976) and the "Peace" poster in the “Mount Crapmore” room (circa. 1972). The electric guitar and amp belonged to him. As a child, he had an interest in technology, indicated by the model railway track stored in the basement, and later embraced emerging technology such as the Sears-brand Atari games console, the VCRs and the CD auto-changer hi-fi. There was also a Qbert board game from 1982 in the house, so he seemed to love playing the arcades.
In his spare time, he taped Star Wars and James Bond films off the TV and drank beer. At some point, the Old Spice aftershave worked for him, and he got married. I'm guessing this happened around 1985, as he taped North and South off the TV for her. He also taped John Carpenter's "They Live" for himself though. After all, he was a child of the 60s, and believed in conspiracy theories.
Generation 3 - Born approx. 1985
Not long after 1985, their daughter was born (Generation 3), based on the Pampers logo on the baby wipes box in the attic. It's hard to say which members of Generation 1 were still living in the house at this point, but we have to assume that they died here, as many of their possessions still remained.
Generation 2 treated their daughter well and bought her the coolest toys such as Cabbage Patch Dolls, the Home Alone 2 board game (1992) and the special edition Easter Barbie (1993) that she apparently wasn't allowed to take out of the box. It seems that she also liked Power Rangers, though I think we mainly saw the Yellow and Pink Rangers, who were the girls. If her parents were children of the 60s, they may have been keen to promote strong female role models to her.
Some time in the early 2000s, it appears the daughter may have moved away (college?) as there's no real evidence of a late teen/early 20s female being there after she got that portable CD/MP3 player around the turn of the century.
A Widowed Mother
The numerous beer boxes around the house (including ones dated 1997 on the attic stairs) indicate that somebody in the house liked a drink, and I assume it was the Generation 2 dad. I suspect that at some point in early 2000-2010 he passed away, as there doesn't seem to be much evidence of an adult male being in the house after that time.
That left his now maybe 60-year-old wife to maintain the house alone, which she struggled with. The trauma of being left there alone may also have made the hoarding worse, although it had clearly been an issue for some time before that.
When the main central heating boiler broke beyond repair, there wasn't much she could do to fix it. It's possible that storm damage had also caused some water ingress around the same time, so damp became a problem. Clearly kerosene heaters were the only source of heat for quite a time, based on the fact that older heaters had been discarded outside. However, I do wonder whether running kerosene heaters unvented in the house was actually releasing more water vapour and adding to the damp problem.
The lack of running water could have been caused by a frozen and burst pipe that, again, the widowed wife had no way of fixing.
Did the daughter return?
I suspect the daughter (Generation 3) may have come back to the house to try to help near the end (hence the box for a $2000 Compaq PC and monitor dated 2009 being in one of the rooms). However, it was probably too little too late, and damp and mould had taken over.
It's hard to say what happened at the end. There doesn't appear to have been any attempt made to salvage much of it. Interestingly, there's no sign of the relatively new Compaq PC, just the old Dell and IBMs, and the daughter's room appears to be the only one that's been sort of cleared in some way. So, perhaps the mother either passed away or got moved to a care home, and the daughter did a brief clear out of her own old bedroom before abandoning the rest of the mould infested contents of the house.
What do you think?
Do you have your own thoughts on the former occupants of this abandoned house? If so, get in touch with me via social media and let me know.
