The Lonely Laing House (1910s)

Welcome to the lonely Laing House, constructed over a century ago and empty for about half that time. In a state of advanced decay, it stands alone and on the edge of a little coulee far from any road or access point. It’s a wonderfully picturesque setting – a delightful place where photography and history blend together.

There’s no trees to be seen, in any direction and nothing else on the property. Prepare yourself for an overwhelming sense of complete and utter isolation. You can feel it now and that’s how it’s always been. A special breed of person was needed to live here, but it seems folks in the early days were more adept at handling adversity.

This post is a reworked version of one from 2015 but updated and reedited. The photos are from that time, but in other ways, it’s essentially a new piece. The Laing House was visited with permission and done in early spring, before cattle are released on the property. They roam about most of the summer.

That time of year is rather drab and dull, but it only heightened the sense of loneliness. Few signs life, everything’s brown and generally flat light. It’s just us and our subject in the raw.

A Little History…

We’ve known of the house for many years and chatted with the owner before but for one reason or another had never visited till this point. The Laing House is easily seen from the highway, off in the distance, in the Kneehill Creek Valley near the town of Carbon and a super zoom the usual way to view it.

The lonely Laing House.

It’s a particularly pleasing in both design and setting. At the same time it’s a bit odd and seems almost like the house was pieced together bit by bit. Plus, it’s such an out of the way location and that we can’t shake. Love everything about it but can’t imagine what it took to live here.

All that remains of this farm is the house. No barn, no outbuildings (save for a collapsed shed), no evidence of much, just the grass, the coulee, the wind, and little else. An old dwelling at the mercy of the elements and our rag-tag group dutifully exploring it.

Built on or around 1911 (dates vary somewhat but that year is mentioned most often), the two story house belonged to Thomas (Tom) Laing and Rose Laing (nee Paynter). Of rather upper-class upbringing, they came over from England a few years before and settled elsewhere in the area before setting down roots on this very spot.

They had four children, Jimmy, Iris, Joyce and Molly (Winnifred). Jimmy died early on, in 1920 and at the age of eleven.

The Laings raised cattle and horses – these coulees and river valleys are perfectly suited for grazing and still used as such today – and farmed a little on the flatter land above.

The same year of Jimmy’s death, the Laing family moved out to the Okanagan region of British Columbia to do a little orcharding. Perhaps Jimmy’s passing was a catalyst or just interesting timing. Later they settled in High River Alberta, only to return to here in the mid-1920s. The house was rented out while they were gone.

Missing Pieces…

Rose passed on in 1930 and this mentioned as a big blow to the entire family. Then the trail goes rather cold – the most frustrating aspect of piecing together a history – and outside some telephone entries for Tom in the 1950s/’60s period, nothing more is found attached to the Laing name.

Fast forward to the early 1970s and the eldest Laing has passed on. By this point Thomas resided in Calgary. With this the farm and associated land were sold. Research suggests the home had ceased to be lived in for a few years prior but exactly when vacated not stated.

Some forty years later (recall our visit was in 2015) and the Laing house is in rough shape, but still elegant in a special way. It’s leaning, weather beaten and open to the elements, and likely does not have many more years left before it falls into itself. The backside sees more sun, and the boards heavily bleached as a result.

It’s mostly empty (unless one counts bird poop, in which case it’s VERY full) save for an old McClary stove found in the kitchen. It’s a Royal Escort and could very well be original to the house. This model seemed to be popular in the 1910s period. It’s almost completely covered in **** but this and other photos were captured in such a way as to deemphasis the droppings. A bay window looks out onto the rolling prairies and you know, that’s not a bad view out.

The location is beautiful in a stark sense, but at the same time it’d clearly be a lonely place, especially so on a cold winter’s night. If the snow fell, one could be stuck here for days or more. It required a great deal of fortitude to live such an isolated existence and even the nearest neighbour was some distance away. Back then or today.

Our View-Camera Friend…

This trip we’re hanging out with noted large format film photographer and good friend Robert Pohl. This format and his methods seem archaic and so out of place in a digital world. Film is making a comeback to some degree, but even those who shoot the old fashioned way are taken aback by Rob’s rig. It’s just that odd and always a conversation piece.

It’s an Ebony (brand) large format bellows style view camera (the film sheets are huge – 4×5”) that looks old but is really quite new and even modern in many ways. Functionally though, it’s much like its older brethren. Some of the lenses are rather ancient, so it’s a mix of old and new I guess.

Everything is set manually and the whole process time consuming. No auto anything here. Skill is needed and patience an essential quality.

Made of wood and titanium, it’s a real piece of craftsmanship, a functioning sculpture. To shoot one single frame require minutes of planning and setting up. Align, adjust, focus, refocus, meter, set, load, check, click…and one image is captured. This takes dedication but being a bit weird helps too.

No lightweight, this camera and all its accessorizes and the massive tripod, together weight a great deal and just getting it from the car to the the house was a lot of work. Rob does art and the artist must suffer. You might find it interesting, but he has an even larger view camera using a sheet double the size, but it’s too much for most jobs.

Getting In On The Act…

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, we bring our 35mm rig along and it’s a high-tech wonder in comparison. Relatively speaking. At this point it had been collecting dust in the closet for some time and for this visit brought out of retirement.

It’s a late 1980s era Minolta X700, a nice higher end consumer grade 35mm camera, along with a whole plethora of lens and accessories. We acquired it in a rather complicated trade some years back and the details of which are no longer remembered.

After using digital for so long now, we found things a bit awkward and strange. Concentrate, think hard and really, really slow down. The latter is a real challenge for hyper types like us. We continue to use it. Not all the time, but when the mood catches us. We used to shoot film long ago, but it’s like starting over.

Rob’s eldest daughter, Hailey rounds out our little group and she’s a fine film photographer in her own right. Medium format stuff, a 1990s era Hasselblad and a relative compact model when compared to her dad’s. This would have been pro gear back when new and now our 35mm seems toy-like.

In the end, most of our film photos were nothing great. Our camera, cranky from years of storage and lack of use, no doubt, was sometimes metering wrong and our manual focusing somewhat off (turns out I needed glasses).

The camera has been cleaned up and is now working as it’s supposed to (film counter has failed, however) and me, I’m wearing specs now, as needed.

The interior is for the most part empty.

We are so very fortunate to shoot with people like Rob and learn a lot watching him in action. Why such a talented photographer wants to pal with us is a bit of mystery but we’re not complaining. We’re far too casual in our style and have motley range of hand-me-down equipment, but we do love a good adventure which is perhaps part of it. We always like to experiment, fearlessly explore and learn. No resting on laurels and it’s done because we love it.

This was our first get together with Rob but ever since we’ve hooked up countless times and collaborated on a number of really cool projects (the Beer Parlour thing comes to mind).

Something Curious…

Connie found some papers in the house and that in itself is not so odd. What they showed, however, was amazing. We we often find old documents in abandoned buildings but it’s usually mundane stuff, but here it’s something fortuitous.

There for all to see, it’s a diagram of a bellows style camera and a description of how it functioned. One very much like Rob’s! It appears the papers were some kind of school technical report and were dated in the 1940s. But…what are the odds?

Here’s something strangely coincidental, even a bit eerie and that’s pretty astonishing. It all came together by chance. We’re just along for the ride and in wonder of it all because stuff like this happens a lot to us.

Know more about our co-collaborator (new window): Robert Pohl Photography.

They’re saying…

“The unsung heroes of the internet!” Leonard O’Brien.

More forgotten and abandoned…
The Sectionman’s Home (Middle of Nowhere).
Nativity of Virgin Mary (St Mary’s).
The Family Homestead.

Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: Contact Us!

Date of adventure: May, 2015.
Reference: The book Carbon – Our History, Our Heritage, Find-a-Grave.com, plus the Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society.

The view out to a stark but beautiful landscape.

Once painted a turquoise colour.

The backside is less aesthetically pleasing and sun-bleached.

Hanging with Rob Pohl and his strange view camera.

Creepy and weird – found inside the house.

The X700 comes out of retirement.

This old stove is one of the few things left behind.

What it’s like to feel alone.

It’s a rather strange looking one.

Checking out the view.

What’s left of an outbuilding and the only other remains found.

It met its end right here.

Note a road cutting across the slope below the Laing House.

Over a century old, and not lived in for some time now.

Even at this distance the yellow jacket stands out.

Shot on film…

Rob and his daughter set up for a shot.

Shooting a film camera…with a film camera.

Time to say goodbye…