Huiz Godelieve
Visited with Ninja Kitten on a warm May day. The uniform lines of the exterior belied the myriad of discoveries inside this unremarkable looking townhouse.
Once inside, one is met by a bewildering choice of rooms, all different, all full of the last owners possessions. Still in situ, these once treasured items have merely been left to remind us of our past.
Typically of houses in Belgium,, Jesus stood on most surfaces, arms aloft, welcoming us in, or maybe enquiring as to why we were there? Some statues had seen better days and judging by the state of some, some person had been in previously with the mere intention of causing damage.
Annoyingly someone had placed a scythe next to an upstairs bed, a place it was probably never supposed to be when the last owners lived here, but such window dressing happens no matter how ridiculous it looks [don't get me on about televisions stacked upon televisions!]
I photographed upstairs, ninja started downstairs then we swapped. A simple method which works. Every room held such delight. Items from a bygone time. A vast collection of vintage clocks all frozen at different times. Art Deco being the dominant theme. Oil lamps were also in abundance whilst stoic portraits stared out from several strategic positions. The occupants were obviously very religious people as is the norm in this part of Europe.
How long the house has been abandoned is easier to date than some by the calendars still on the walls downstairs and it seemed to be 2006 however the vintage dial telephone next to one of the beds upstairs would somewhat contradict this unless its more window dressing or the occupant's clung to outdated goods and refused to upgrade.
The last occupant was a local school master apparently although no reference to education was seen in the house. We ended up spending most of the day inside the house with it being the last day on a 4 day trip and time to take it easy. Such a house warranted it anyway. The best was saved for last. up the rickety wooden steps and into the loft there it was my favourite item to be found in abandoned houses; a pram. Worth any trip to see a vintage pram. This was marvelous and probably circa 1950s. A fitting way to end a European trip!