Last houses standing: The beautiful row houses once part of sprawling tenements that illustrate Baltimore's urban decay


One of the architectural quirks of certain cities on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. is the solo row house.



Standing alone, in some of the worst neighborhoods, these nineteenth century structures were once attached to similar row houses that made up entire city blocks.



Time and major demographic changes have resulted in the decay and demolition of many such blocks.



Occasionally, one house is spared - literally cut off from its neighbors and left to the elements with whatever time it has left.

Still retaining traces of its former glory, the last house standing is often still occupied.

To view more of the photo's b y Ben Marcin , you can visit C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore.



Lonely: The pictures are simple enough - abandoned row houses in an area of Baltimore beset with urban decay, but their very presence conveys so much more

Abandoned: Baltimore has been blighted along with so many other urban areas across the country, with failing public education options, falling high school retention rates, poor job opportunities, and decaying infrastructure

Deserted: Add an economic recession into the mix, and brainstorming ways to rescue Baltimore is an exercise in frustration and despair

Lonesome: The idea of a shrinking city fascinates many. For whilst the area of land remains the same, once people disappear and buildings are abandoned, the city becomes dead too

Isolated: In many parts of America, a great deal of infrastructure development and expenditure, designed to support such large populations, now sits unused or obsolete, designed to function for a much larger population

Forlorn: As property values fall, crime rates rise. Some cities such as Washington are bouncing back, but Baltimore hasn't been so lucky

Cut off: These solitary buildings portray a ghostly beauty in their odd placement in the urban landscape

Boarded up: Often three stories high, they were clearly not designed to stand alone like this

Ready for demolition: Many details that might not be noticed in a homogenous row of twenty houses become apparent when everything else has been torn down. In this row of houses, all have been marked for demolition with a red 'X' apart from one

Perplexing: There's always the lingering question of why a single row house was allowed to remain upright