The buildings in this area are perched on the the rolling hills of the Dighton, Tustin, and Ashton areas, where some of the highest elevations in Michigan’s lower peninsula exist. This vine-covered house most recently belonged to a group of hippie artists during the early 1970s. To find a barn full of art magazines, paintings, and sculptures instead of farming supplies was a pleasant surprise.

This Plymouth car was left parked at the top of a hill, overlooking the forests and farms below.

There were only 650 miles on the odometer. Pretty mysterious. I like to think the owner walked to this spot to climb inside the car and look out across the horizon.

Similar to its vine-covered neighbor, branches were starting to surround this house and pour into the windows with the breeze. As the spring rain fell, I took refuge under its roof.

Soon the skies were clear, and it didn’t take long for the ground to soak up the rain. The grass here has been burned by the sun, and the house burned by fire.

This tiny farmhouse provided just enough for a small family though several decades. The ground floor offered just enough space for a functional kitchen, washer, drier, and sofa, while sleeping quarters were upstairs.

Green ambient light from the foliage outside pours into a 1920s Tustin schoolhouse. After stroking a few piano keys, I listened to how the sounds vibrated within the space and tried to imagine the songs sung here.

This potbelly stove used to emanate warmth and crackling sounds through the winters. I like to think problem kids were warned to behave or they’ve be thrown in.

The fields surrounding this farm, which once grew hay and potatoes, have since been converted for growing Christmas trees. Abandoned in 1967, the house and outbuildings are hidden by the dense grove of trees and overgrown bushes.

This kitchen came equipped with a fold-out hoosier (for dispensing flour) and a built-in bread cabinet.

The residents of this house must have found importance in time-keeping. Next to this wood stove in the entryway is one of five calendars in the house, mostly from 1943.

This very old, yet well-preserved log cabin stands southwest of Ashton, where the clay-like soil probably led to the demise of the farming that once thrived here.

The house is adorned with some unique craftsmanship, including the iron hinges and door knocker seen here. I’m guessing there is Scandinavian influence in the design.