Tour Report: Maison "Flower Power"

Only a week after our visits to an abandoned prison and a small house in the woods, I was back in the area again.

A friend and I had made up our minds to explore the so-called Maison "Flower Power" - an abandoned residential house built around 1800 that had a very special charm in the photos we had seen online. Much of that appeal came from its lavish furnishings and the many colorful, floral-patterned wallpapers.

The house was right in the middle of town, so we had to be careful if we wanted to avoid being spotted.

An urban location also has its advantages. One of them was the availability of plenty of inconspicuous public parking spots nearby.

All we needed now was to find a way inside. The front of the house was out of the question. First, it was clearly visible from the street. Second, a pedestrian walkway ran right past it. And third, we could already tell that the chances of finding an entrance there were pretty slim.

So we had to try the back of the house instead. The property bordered a school campus, and parts of the grounds had once belonged to the house. After the former owner's death, however, they had been bequeathed to the school.

Fortunately, it was the weekend, and the school grounds were deserted. We were able to make our way into the garden without being seen.

And there it was: a possible entrance. Sort of, anyway.

There was a steel door with a narrow gap left open above it. Wide enough to squeeze through - provided you could actually reach it. That was no problem for my friend, who was considerably taller than me. For me, getting into the house that way was out of the question.

But hey, one person getting inside is all you need. My buddy then opened a window for me, allowing me to climb in without having to rely on wings or a rocket pack.

What we saw next left us speechless.

Bright colors, floral wallpapers, flower-patterned armchairs - practically everything in the house was bursting with color. In German, we have a rather tongue-in-cheek expression for places like this: Augenkrebs, literally “eye cancer,” referring to something so visually overwhelming that it practically hurts to look at.

And yet, the interior had style and was tastefully put together - provided, of course, that you appreciate this kind of colorful decor.

We explored every room and discovered an incredible number of little remnants of the former owner's life: clothing, dishes, documents, and books, some of the latter packed away in boxes. It looked as though someone had planned to move out or clear the house. At any rate, the book boxes had been neatly labeled.

My personal favorite read: “War Literature - Bizarre Understanding of History.”

There was plenty more to discover in the attic, too. We found old Persian rugs and additional wardrobes filled with clothes, many of them featuring equally colorful patterns.

Down in the basement, we came across heaps of home-canned fruit dating back to the mid-1990s, unopened bottles of wine from the 1970s, and charcoal and watercolor drawings that appeared to date from around the middle of the 20th century.

Visiting this house was a special experience - not just from a photographic perspective, but also because it offered a glimpse of just how much life, love, and dedication had gone into making it a home.

To find out more about the history and to check out all the photos from this place, click the button below.