Urban Exploration - Wilfrid's Farm

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

Wilfrid’s Farm is located in a discreet corner of the remote countryside. It has everything: the immense peace of rural life, beauty, authenticity, and beyond those feelings, a simplicity that is beautiful beyond words. I am taking you into the calm: a place to take your time and bathe in silence.

Isolated in the middle of a field, like a bastion atop a small mound forming a large hillock, the farmhouse is something the farmer must plow around. It is a fact that this building must be an undeniable nuisance, like a bunker in the middle of the sea. An aerial view reveals the complex shapes the tractor driver must navigate.

The farm has been abandoned for a very long time. It wasn't possible to find more specific details, given that this agricultural estate sits on the border of three rather vast rural communes. In the local cemetery, I couldn't find a family vault in the name of the owners, who, moreover, have an extremely common surname. A pity!

If the scattered and trashed documents are to be believed, this was the historical farm of Wilfrid and his family. The large rectangle enclosing a courtyard bears witness to a history of polyculture, but also to significant wine production. In a vast lean-to, there is a complete wine cellar (chai).

This visit was not without its concerns, however. In the attic, I encountered a barn owl; it didn't matter, the goal was simply not to disturb it, so I left the area. In the living room, a marten, but she too took flight. On the other hand, in the wine cellar, I ran into some badgers. I truly fear these "little bears"—they are mean and prone to biting, especially when cornered in a mess of scattered floorboards. I didn't linger.

As one might guess for any isolated place that has been clearly abandoned for so long, the farm has been looted. Nevertheless, it reveals rural architecture of great beauty, and it is a pleasure to showcase it through this short documentary. The last occupant was Norbert—the one who finally closed the shutters. Tractor tires were placed in front of the windows, and then, with time, everything collapsed. This farm shows what was most precious in the agricultural life of yesteryear: people who knew how to do everything. Beautiful lives.