Part of the old Camarillo State Hospital, this complex housed hospital staff.  Since the closing of the hospital, most of these buildings have been demolished.  I was lucky enough to visit them once while they were still intact, though I definitely found them overgrown and abandoned.

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'The Homes' - 2

Shoot Date: 21 March 2003

Stairwell on the south side of the complex.  Leaves and debris littered the steps, doors stood open and some of the windows were broken, but there was a palpable sense that this place had once been full of life, of laughter and craziness, late nights and early morning coffee.

View from the north, behind the Homes.  This open courtyard was yellow with blooming mustard and at the edges, in the shade, patient sunburst-shaped succulents had grown to enormous proportions while ivy had been slowly, patiently scaling the walls.

A ground-level apartment stands with its front door, guarded by huge succulents, standing open as if its residents had walked away one day and forgotten to return.

Balcony on the western edge of the complex overlooks the curve of hills that lead to the main part of the campus.

In the shadows behind the building, ivy had been patiently slipping its fingers into convenient openings, prying open doors and windows and scaling the angle where two walls meet.

Not far from the Homes, this shaded trail heads east, past the remains of a home site marked by a partial foundation, mounds of blue-flowered vinca and the remains of a fence.