Inside, the Ross County Retirement Home has a lot of cheap wood paneling falling off the walls, as well as some bland, nappy carpet in bland colors. The doors mostly stand wide open, especially in the kitchen, which makes for easy access. Nobody has vandalized the place too badly--no spraypaint, really, and not too many broken windows. It might have something to do with the rural location of the home, or the gas station right across 104.
Pictured above are the remaining fixtures from the kitchen, which is big enough to have served a retirement home. The refrigerator has that familiar old abandoned refrigerator stench.
This staircase leads up into the second floor, where all the bedrooms are. They're mostly empty, as you can see here.
Not a lot to show or talk about, honestly. I'd be interested to know more about what sorts of things went on here, and whether or not there's a new "county retirement home" somewhere in Chillicothe or elsewhere.
The strangest thing about this building is the fact that it contains a much more run-down section, right in the middle If you think of the main retirement home in the shape of a squared-off C, with the open part facing 104. Inside the C is a section, under the same roof, which is completely inaccessible unless you go outside and enter it through an exterior door. It's filthy and resembles a barn more than a house where people slept recently. The first thing you see is a staircase going up to this section's own second floor.
Upstairs you find yourself between a matching pair of dirty, dusty rooms with broken, outdated furniture in it.
What was the purpose of this section of the building? If it was a garage/storage shed type thing, why was it built inside the main structure, and why is there no big access door? From the outside it looks like another door leading into the retirement home. A very weird layout.
So this is what I know about the Ross County Retirement Home. Not a lot, I know; if you remember when it was functioning, or know anybody who has any memories of it, please drop me a line and let me know.
