Abandoned Maryland Houses: Ruins of the American Dream (America Through Time)

Abandoned Maryland Houses: Ruins of the American Dream (America Through Time)

Explores abandoned Maryland homes, uncovering the stories behind their decay and lost legacies. Historic mansions, farmhouses, and family homes rot across Maryland, the wealthiest state in the nation, from the Eastern Shore to the west in Appalachia. As the authors explored these homes, they researched the reasons the families lost their properties, so they could tell their stories. They discovered families often leave due to financial distress and environmental disasters. In other cases, developers purchase property with decayed historic homes and then allow them to rot until they can get them condemned through a process called demolition by neglect. Complex laws, or lack of legislation, leave local municipalities in a bind as properties deteriorate and unpaid property taxes accumulate. For the authors, these homes represent lost memories, lost hopes. Buying a home has always symbolized a means to accumulate wealth and rise to the middle class. Losing a home means losing access to the American dream. Walk with the authors as they have discovered, in weather-worn halls, 200-year-old architectural gems, faded photographs of ancestors, vintage trinkets, and antiques of yesteryear. Each item signifies a stop on a family's ancestral road map. ROBYN AND RHEA HODGSON have been in love for more than twenty years. The couple share four children and five grandchildren. Robyn, a former journalist, is an adjunct writing instructor and writing tutor, and Rhea is an occupational therapy assistant in a post-acute nursing rehab. Rhea has donated her photography skills for nonpartisan groups fighting corruption in politics. Photography and wandering the blue highways have always been among their shared interests. The couple shares a love of history and architecture, which led them to exploring abandoned buildings.