64 Years, 3000 Miles and Back Again

As some of you lovely longtime readers may recall, this isn't the first time that the photo above has been featured here on the blog.

 

The original post was back in October of last year and was titled Beautiful Abandon. This was The Ball House of Skagit County, Washington and it had quite the history. 

The Victorian style construction of the home in 1903, the terrible tragedy that provoked The Ball family to abandon the home in the 1930s, the decades of neglect and decay that followed...and the eventual collapse in 1996. Thanks to some internet research and  Bill Osbourne, the photographer who snapped and inscribed this shot back in 1949, I learned almost everything that I could about the infamous Ball House.

But a few weeks ago, I came to know something else. I learned that aside from some sketches and old photographs on the county website, no tangible photos existed of what was once an impressive stretch of property. I was contacted by Charlene, a resident of Buckley, Washington and longtime admirer of The Ball Estate.

For years, Char took her family camping in the Bayview area, where they would pass by The Ball House and see the slow and steady decline of the property. And then one year, nothing of the home remained at all.

After a few email exchanges, I decided that Char's personal connection and close location to the legacy of The Ball House certainly warranted selling her a prized piece of my vintage photo collection. 

If you're reading this, Char, I hope you and your family get to relive some of your past travels in owning this photograph. I would have loved to see what remained of the property in person while it was still standing.

I couldn't be happier that someone local to that area rediscovered the only tangible relic of a legend that no longer exists through Let's Go Thrifting! This little exchange only validates my own personally held credentials as a thrifter and hunter of cultural artifacts and further explores the mysterious cycle of secondhand shopping.

How did a photograph of a Skagit County, Washington home from 1949 end up in a Montgomeryville, PA thrift store in 2011? How many people in how many towns had their hands upon this photograph in those 62 years before it ended up in mine? And the cycle continues, as the only tangible reminder of what once remained of The Ball Estate now belongs to Char and her family two years after I rescued it from the Impact Thrift Store. 

Enjoy the memories, Charlene! And do let me know if you find a photograph of any legendary Philadelphia properties at your local thrift store.

The Ball House   

Skagit County, Washington

1903-1996

Photographed in 1949 by Bill Osbourne.
Thrifted in 2011 by Jackie Jardine.

Sold to Charlene of Buckley, Washington in 2013.