Last month, after reading an article that mentioned how few artists were currently doing work that referenced the current housing crisis, I decided to go out and shoot – with absolutely no expectations. I wasn’t sure what I was after or what I was trying to say, and that was okay. It was just an exercise, and I blogged about my first attempt here.

That first attempt was shiny, happy, and glossy, which was a little surprising given the subject matter, but not totally unexpected, if you know me. And it truly was just the first attempt. If, and I do mean if, I pursue this as a full-blown project, I’m certain it will evolve, and could end up very different, once I figure out what I want to say – but I’m not in that mode yet.

Right now I’m in exploration mode, and this week that took me to San Jacinto, California and a little house for rent in the downtown area. With broken windows, a bare dirt yard, and a sign on the front door that declared it uninhabitable – poor little house!

So not quite as shiny this time. Or as happy. And certainly not glossy. But still me.

I’m still not sure where I’m going with this project – or if it’s even a project – it might just stay an exercise. It’s good to explore! Even if it leads nowhere special…

Patrick is a musician, a student, and a high school senior. We did his senior portrait session in San Jacinto – both downtown and out in the countryside. It was a brilliantly sunny day – perfect for a session like this!

The Estudillo Mansion was built in 1885 by Fransisco Estudillo in San Jacinto, California. It’s still the most beautiful home in the town, over 120 years later!





The staircase is beautiful, but it’s very steep and the railing is really low. The average person one-hundred-years ago was significantly smaller than we are today, but this railing is so low, it makes me wonder if the Estudillo family was even shorter than the norm?

Upstairs are several bedrooms, and if you look in the closets you can see traces of wallpaper from several different decades. This house was a home for many years.



The old plaster has cracked away in places, and you can see that even though the brickwork on the exterior is even and perfectly aligned, on the interior they used left-over bits and pieces, since they planned to cover it up with plaster anyway. The house was recently retrofitted to withstand earthquakes, but I believe this damage was caused by an earthquake in the past.



A bit of the past is visible through the flaking paint in the dining room. How far back this goes, I don’t know? Could it be original to the house – or was it added later?



The fireplace mantle is carved marble – and features two cameos, one on each side. It’s got a dorky little modern screen in front of it now, but I’m sure they’ll eventually remove it and get a more authentic solution in place.



This interior is of a window on the front of the house. You can see the bricks are more evenly aligned here, and you can see the curved brick-work above the window. On the exterior that curved brick-work is visible in the top photo.





Several years ago the wrap-around porch was accidentally destroyed by an overly zealous construction crew. The gingerbread was salvaged and is back in place today, but the columns and porch roof are unfortunately all new construction. Even when a building is well-loved by the community and on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s still at risk as long as there are people who don’t understand the historical significance.