Homes in Limbo: Echoes of an Exit

Homes in Limbo examines abandoned houses and stalled properties across Puerto Rico as evidence of inheritance disputes, migration, and housing instability, exploring how inaccessible structures reshape communities and everyday life.

This project began with one house in my neighborhood in Aguadilla that has been stuck for years because of inheritance disputes and legal issues. Seeing that house every day made me realize it wasn’t an isolated case. From there, I started photographing other abandoned homes, downtown buildings, and deteriorating hotel structures across Puerto Rico that repeat the same condition: places left sitting in limbo while people struggle to find stable housing.

I document these spaces through photographs of exteriors, thresholds, interior traces, and portraits of people living beside these conditions. The portraits matter to me because they connect the buildings to real everyday life and show how abandonment affects neighborhoods, families, and the idea of home itself.

These places don’t just sit empty. They slowly become part of the normal landscape, while many people my age are still living with family, splitting rent, or trying to survive month to month without owning anything. At the same time, many of these structures could still become homes, businesses, or community spaces in the right hands. Instead, they remain frozen in legal limbo while stable housing continues to feel further out of reach.