Erin Watson Photography

06/06/2024

Tomorrow's the day!

Unfortunately I won't be able to be there in person for the opening, but I'm so excited to check it out next time I'm in Detroit.

This photo was taken 10 years ago. Long before any real renovation had started, after it had already sat closed for over 20 years. There are so many incredibly amazing buildings across the country that never see the opportunity for a new chapter. I'm thankful that there are people with deep pockets that still see the value in historical architecture.

Check out the link for more about what's going on with the reopening and renovations at MCS - https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2024/06/03/michigan-central-station-concert-tours-photos-reopening/73954360007/

04/02/2024

This one isn't my style of home, but it's definitely tugging at my history loving heart.

From the listing -

"Never again will you get the opportunity to own such an important piece of history. Sycamore Homestead is the home compound of master builder Braxton Dixon. The main home was originally constructed for Johnny Cash. Historians and purveyors of country music will go wild over this opportunity. Main house, 2 guest homes, barn, tea room and smoke house reconstructed from pre-civil war log structures relocated to this property. The slate floors were mined from the site. Huge and expansive timbers with original blacksmith created nails. Braxton Dixon was a master builder and stone mason known as the builder for the stars including Johnny and June Carter Cash, Roy Orbison, Donna Fargo, Don Pierce, president of Starday Records, Fred Foster, president of Monument Records, Marty Stuart and Connie Smith and countless others. Secluded on 5.8 acres, this complex is awaiting a creative old soul who is ready to bring this property back to life. Dare to dream"

3016 New Hope Rd, Hendersonville, TN 37075 is for sale. View 63 photos of this 6 bed, 5 bath, 3106 sqft. single family home with a list price of $3295000.

02/28/2024

Alright, for $2 million around here you’re probably not even getting on the lake, across the street, maybe. This isn’t my taste at all, but I can certainly appreciate it and recognize that it’s a lot for the money compared to locally.

02/23/2024

More love for the Butterfly House

There is an iconic home called The Butterfly House, which is up for sale for the first time by its original owners, listed on Zillow, and is $2.1 million at 2965 Ridge Rd. located in Michigan City.

02/21/2024

Apparently today is National Love Your Pet Day, so I will use that as an excuse to share some non-work photos of my dear Frank (Frankenstein, Franklin, Francis, Tanky, and about 700 names) If we are friends on here, then you may have already seen these, but if not then - meet Frank 🖤 Frank is 4 months old in the black chair (earlier this week) and 3 months old in the orange chair. He is a rescue from Lakeshore PAWS and we have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is the best boy and has been such a great addition to the family.

Feel free to share your fur babies in the comments, I want to see all them

02/16/2024

I said I would start posting more again, so cheers to two days in a row! Hahaha.

Earlier this month MLive.com ran an article featuring the 19 most expensive homes sold in Michigan in 2023. (side note - publicly sold) I am beyond honored that #3 and #4 on the list were both homes that I had the opportunity to photograph.

9228 Pier St
Lakeside, MI
Sale price - $6,250,000
Listed by Maureen Culp Real Estate - Harbor Country, Michigan

18845 Marquette
New Buffalo, MI
Sale price - $6,250,000
Listed by Jan Smith with atproperties

"Michigan’s most expensive home sold in 2023 was a six-bedroom, 10-bathroom mansion in Bloomfield Hills.

In total, Michigan had 19 homes that sold for $4 million or more last year, per records from Redfin. That’s significantly higher than the state’s median sale price of $229,700 in December."

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2024/02/these-19-michigan-homes-sold-for-more-than-4m-in-2023.html?fbclid=IwAR0ZB7LuM4SkRI80pZP4DdbDwtltqEcO9wC-rsMCOQTeXQzJQkvn7M4wisA

02/15/2024

I promise I'm going to start posting more regularly and that I am in fact still taking photos and drooling over unique architecture. I've spent a lot of time lately shifting my trajectory and my priorities and spent a lot less time online. That said, this one is too good not to share and I have been patiently waiting until I could post about it.

The thing about doing this line of work and servicing the area where I spent a lot of my childhood, is that occasionally I get to photograph "that house". Now, admittedly, there are a lot of "that houses" for me, the perks of growing up somewhere with a variety of unique architecture and family that loved nothing more than to spend an afternoon driving around town reminiscing about "the good old days" and who lived where and the history of some of these homes. One might say that geeking out about houses comes pretty naturally to me.

Enter - The Butterfly House. It's a Long Beach icon. You can imagine the pitter-patter of my mid-century loving heart when I got asked to photograph it. Around the corner from the house my mom grew up in, of course I was familiar with it. So many drives with my grandma seeing it perched up on the hill over looking Lake Michigan with the roof lines resembling a butterfly, at least that's how we always associated it when we were kids.

Built in 1955 and designed by Laurence L. Smith, this is the first time this home has ever been on the market, being offered by the original owners.

This one is special and I am so thankful I had the opportunity to photograph it and we had such a perfect weather day to do so. I hope whoever buys this doesn't change a thing.

2965 Ridge Rd
Long Beach, IN

4 bedrooms
3 bathrooms
$2,100,000

Offered by Kelly Gausselin
Micky Gallas Group
atproperties

01/21/2024

Time for a random post to let you all know that I'm still alive :)

Kidding, but it has been a long time. The past several months have brought a lot of changes to my photography career. Things are going well. Better than I could have expected. I've just been laying pretty low. That will change in the upcoming future though, so keep an eye out.

Meanwhile, after being snowed/frozen in for the better part of the past week, we finally left the house today for a little bit. It felt great just to get out and see some sunshine. The main roads are pretty clear, but I was thankful for the Jeep on the side roads. I'm not sure where all of this snow is going to go as it starts to melt. I foresee some muddy and flooded days soon if it warms up like they are expecting. I'm not sure what the final number was in New Buffalo, about thigh-high on me. I saw that Michigan City was at 35 inches and Laporte was 28. I don't know if that's accurate, but there's certainly an astronomical amount of snow everywhere in downtown Michigan City.

As I was headed out, I threw the drone in the car on a whim. I was curious what the lake would look like after all of the snow. I didn't really prepare, I wasn't dressed for it, nor was my battery even all the way charged, but we did go down by the beach. You couldn't even drive into the main parking lot at Washington Park, but there were a couple of plows working on clearing it.

I absolutely love flying the drone when the lake is like this. It's such an incredible landscape that shifts daily. I will definitely be heading out again in the next couple of days to do some more documenting.

Stay safe and warm friends!

05/01/2023

I don't have a bucket list written down. In the back corner of my mind though, I have an ongoing list of hundreds of places I'd like to see at some point in my lifetime. Some rank way higher than others, but they all made it to the list for some reason or another. I'm fairly certain that a lot of places on my list might not be on too many other people's lists, but I suppose that keeps things interesting.

Enter Salvation Mountain.

This is one of those places that's been on my list for at least a decade. I don't even remember how I first heard about it, but I know it was a long time ago. Truth be told, I'm not even really sure why I felt like it was someplace I needed to see. It's not an entirely unknown place; it's had it's fair share of cameos in pop culture. The movie into the Wild. A Coldplay video. A Kesha video. The Beam Me Up mountain in Grand Theft Auto 5 is a nod to it. There are others I'm sure, but those come to mind. Salvation Mountain is one of those places that you really have to want to go see, it's pretty far off the beaten path, but lucky for me I got to knock a couple of items off my list that day. Photos don't really do it justice or convey what it feels like to be standing in front of it. These are just some photos from my drone (I got permission), I took quite a few with my regular camera as well that highlight a lot of details that I will eventually post. If you ever find yourself far South in California, it's definitely worth checking out.

From the official Salvation Mountain website -

Salvation Mountain is Leonard's (Knight) tribute to God and his gift to the world with its simple yet powerful message: "God Is Love." Leonard's passion has lovingly created this brilliant "outsider art" masterpiece resplendent with not only biblical and religious scripture such as the Lord's Prayer, John 3:16, and the Sinner's Prayer, but also including flowers, trees, waterfalls, suns, bluebirds, and many other fascinating and colorful objects. Salvation Mountain must be seen to be fully appreciated as those who have made the journey will attest. Its 50 foot height and 150 foot breadth is made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint and is truly unique in the United States and probably the world. From its Sea of Galilee at the bottom, to the big red heart in the middle, to the cross at the very top, the reoccurring theme of "Love" is everywhere at Salvation Mountain.

04/26/2023

It's been so long since I've seen the ocean.... I guess I should...

It had been about 10 years since I had put my feet in an ocean, which is entirely too long. Living less than a mile from Lake Michigan, the girls weren't as impressed with it as I was hoping they would be, but they enjoyed it nonetheless. We didn't spend a whole lot of time at the beach, but we did want to make sure and get to the coast at least once during our trip. We got to see a proposal (she said yes!) and watch the sun set. All in all, it was a good day.

Laguna Beach was gorgeous and I can see why it's such a popular area. The beaches were beautiful and while we didn't really explore, there were lots of cool looking shops and restaurants. Like I do whenever I travel somewhere, I had to look up the housing prices. Depending on the source, it looks like the average home price ranges from $3-5 million and there was an ocean front home that sold a few years ago for $70 million (holy s**t!) New Buffalo can get pricey, but I'm glad we aren't at that level.

04/21/2023

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted much work on social media. It’s not been for lack of creating, I’ve been staying busy, I just needed to decompress and take a bit of a break. I’m happy to say that it’s time to jump back in and I’ve got a lot of work to share.

Tonight was the reveal party for this year’s Harbor Country Guide and I’m so excited to finally be able to talk about it! Having the honor of one of my photos on the cover is incredibly humbling. The guide is the go to resource for all things Harbor Country and goes out to different locations all across Michigan. It’s been about 10 years since a photo has been chosen as the cover and it’s kinda crazy to think that people will be looking at this for the next year. I love this community and am proud of where I live. There are no words for how much I appreciate the support I’ve received over the years from friends and colleagues. The guide will be available tomorrow, make sure you pick up a copy and see what amazing things our area has to offer ❤️

03/20/2023

This one was a fun one to photograph and has one of my very favorite bathtubs 😍