This house is located in Middlesex County along a busy highway. Someone appears to be using it for storing personal items outside as a boat comes and goes. The caldendar inside shows 1986 which makes this property aver three decades vacant.

The highlight are the assorted vintage television sets as well as some clothing hanging in an upstairs room. There are assorted bills on the flor dating back to the 1980’s. The house was been picked over but still has no vandalism and remains a popular place to photograph.

This house was located in Aurora, Ontario. It was built around 1960. It last owner was a man named Arne Fredericksen. Arne bred racing horses and founded two other farms in Ontario which are active to this day.

Arne was born in 1924 and passed away in 1998. The house was left as un untouched time capsule for a few years until 2013 when it was purchased by a developer. PhotographicTime and I spent several hours in long weekend rush hour traffic on August 2, 2013 to reach this house, where it did not disappoint. The power still worked.

Original coordinates: 44.022861,-79.420436

The Norm Elder cottage was an amazing collection of buildings that housed artifacts collected by a Toronto resident named Norm Elder. Norman Sam Elder was born on August 12, 1939. He could be described as being eccentric – an explorer, exotic animal owner, writer, artist, and an Olympic equestrian all in one.

Norm operated the Norman Elder Museum which was located at 140 Bedford Road in Toronto. Norm’s Museum has an assortment of exotic animals including a 90 year old turtle named Tony Tortuis. Norm also had two large pythons and a boa constrictor that he kept in the basement. Sometimes he had a fruit bat, several chinchillas and numerous ferrets.

As an explorer, Elder embarked on lengthy expeditions to remote areas of Papua New Guinea, Namibia, the Amazon, the Congo, the Arctic, Madagascar, and many other countries. He founded the Canadian Chapter of the Explorers Club in 1979.

Norman Elder was an accomplished equestrian. He competed as a member of the Canadian Equestrian Team in Three-Day Eventing at the Olympic Games, first in Rome in 1960, and again in Mexico City in 1968.

In 1998, Elder pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting 10 young men between 1970 and 1980. The men were all between the ages of 18 and 20 at the time of the encounters but Canada’s laws at the time gave 21 as the age of consent for same-sex contact.

Norm had a cottage getaway in Muskoka. We visited it in 2015 and it did not disappoint. There were numerous photo albums showing Norm’s travels from around the world. Norm had many old National Geographic magazines, insect collections from around the world, sketches and paintings including self portraits. There were several buildings on the property. One collapsed building looked like a church of sorts, with a steeple. There was the living quarters and another building that looked to be an artist studio.

Neighbours kept a close eye on the property which was demolished not long after our visit.

A rural farm house set back from the road with old vehicles in the driveway. At first glance, you might think that someone’s home but as you venture closer you see that the vehicles don’t have recent plates.

This was a very intact time capsule house which has since been cleaned out. At the time of my visit it looked like someone had been packing items into boxes, perhaps after a recent death in the household.

The adventure begins at 3 AM, when I rose out of bed after just a few short hours of sleep. I was intent on arriving at this time capsule house before the sun had risen, because I expected difficulties in finding a way inside. I arrived at my destination shortly after 6 AM and parked at a property across the road. Sleep was out of the question, I’ve never been able to fall asleep in the driver’s seat. I took a quick peek of the house and felt my way around the door as it was still dark outside. I tried the door but it was locked. I wasn’t sure if it was the padlocks or if the door itself was locked, but this mystery was solved when my hand felt a broken pane of glass. I reached inside and was able to unlock the door. It opened without any further issue, the padlocks having been broken off by someone else. I retreated back to the vehicle and waited for the sunlight.

By 8 AM the sun was out and it was now possible to take photos, so I walked over to the property. I’d been told that there might be two padlocks on the door as well as a trail camera. Seeing no camera, I went inside.

The property is aged, the furnishings are outdated and the electronics are from the late 70’s or early 80’s.  This is perfect for the urban explorer. The entrance opens up to a small foyer where you could turn right into the living room, head straight into the kitchen or continue upstairs. My first area of exploration was the living room.

The most interesting part of this room is of course the couch. Next to it is a radio which is capable of picking up shortwave radio stations. This was designed in the era when electronics were made to do it all, and had every conceivable switch and dial. I love playing with these old electronics unlike today’s simplified devices.

Overnight guests might have enjoyed a glass of wine in the living room while listening to some of the classical music cassettes played on the dining room stereo. Selection included Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

In the kitchen, a calendar shows the year 2006. I didn’t spend a lot of time in this room, in hindsight I would have checked expiry dates on the perishables. Water damage has led to the ceiling drywall falling down in much of the room. The kitchen features wooden cupboards that aren’t too outdated but not modern either. The stove’s exhaust fan has fallen onto the stove.

Making your way upstairs, you’ll step into small pieces of drywall that have fallen from the ceiling. This property may need demolition rather than renovation. The first bedroom on the left features double beds, pink walls with wallpaper designs, and a replica antique telephone. There are pools of water collecting in the ceiling. This is a nicely preserved room with the bedding made up and waiting for the next guests to stay the night.

Next to the bedroom is a bathroom with a retro green design. There’s a green plush floor mat and toilet mat, the style nobody uses any more. The final room on this side of the hallway appeared to be the business office. There was a computer, Lexmark printer, three typewriters and an extensive collection of VHS video tapes. The language of the tape labels and framed certificates on the walls led me to believe the owner was Croatian. I can find no history on the owner in any of my online searches except for one small page listing the bed and breakfast business.

On the right side of the hallway, the first room might have been a bedroom or a sitting room. There’s no bed in here although the couch may have opened up into one. There are two television sets here, both of which are the large bulky floor model styles of the late 1970’s. On a table, I found a gentleman’s hat and a collection of smoking pipes. A door leads to an upper balcony which sits above the main entrance to the house. I didn’t venture out onto the patio so as not to be seen by passersby.

If you’re not observant, you might miss the door that takes you up to a third level where you’ll find the time capsule bedroom. This room featured a peaked ceiling, double beds and a vintage chair. On the dresser is an antique appliance that was used to dry your finger nail polish.

What the future of this property will be, I cannot say… for now it’s only guests are the curious, who don’t ever stay the night.

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This property is located along a back road. The house is very much a time capsule house, in that everything is left as it would have been when someone was living there. There’s some water damage to the roof and some items have been tossed about but the damage is minimal.

The power still works, which is always puzzling as someone presumably pays the bill. The kitchen still has canned goods and the fridge, although emitting a horrendous foul odor has what looks like fresh meat inside. The living room has items tossed about but the cabinets are where the real gems are – old nick knacks and dolls.

The bedroom is pretty dark so I wasn’t able to explore much of it and the light didn’t come on. There are lots of books though. This was the home of Don and Patricia Calder. Pat passed away sometime in 2017. Her ashes can be found in the house.

The back room looks like it was a home office.

There are old collectible clocks and in the basement is a large grandfather Lego-style clock. There’s also a grandfather clock by the front entrance.

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This house was simply wonderful to explore. The first thing you notice when you approach the house, is the smell. It stinks of rotting garbage outside. Inside the house, the air is easier to breathe. There’s an accumulation of black mold however, starting to grow in the rear kitchen area.

The kitchen is filled with canned food and utensils. The bedrooms are completely made up. In the master bedroom you’ll find hundreds of photos, many of them of flowers that used to be in the garden.

An old Singer sewing machine was discovered in one of the upper rooms. It disappeared not long after our visit.

Kids have been here though, as evident by the smashed out glass in the dining room hutch. A window is boarded up making the dining area dark.

The photo albums in the bedroom reveal that there was a beautiful and extensive flower garden on the property at one time. Down in the basement there’s a recreation room and a back room filled with books.

The man who lived here was named Neils E. Danielson who passed away on April 30, 2014. He had no immediately family but I believe he had a step-daughter.

As of summer 2020, the yard has been cleared of trees and the house is believed to now be active.

This house is situated up a long driveway and is out of view from the road. The land is used for farming purposes but the house itself has remained untouched for many years. I’m going to suggest that it was a seasonally used property rather than a home.

The last few years have seen the ceiling start to fall down. On a piano sits a photo of an older man and who is likely his grandson. Have the occupants passed away? There’s been no signs of life in this cottage for several years now. Fortunately most of the belingings are still there year after year.

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Located along a quiet rural road sits this gorgeous time capsule farm house. You wouldn’t know that there’s anything of interest inside, and would probably pass it by if you saw it along the side of the road.

Inside is a completely untouched rural home with working electricity, and quilts on the made up beds. The man who owns this property lives in Toronto where he works as a jeweler. The land is used for farming potatoes. With even the doors boarded up, it would appear that the owner has no intention on returning any time soon.

A dehumidifier runs in the basement, to keep mold from growing.

This house was originally found by an explorer named Ground State.

A woman named Madelyn Williamson lived in this house where she raised five children. Madelyn’s husband William, passed away in 1982. Since that time Madelyn remained in the house along with one of her adult sons (I believe he was named James). Madelyn passed away in 2013.

At the time the house was discovered, the hydro was still working and there was zero vandalism. A TV table in front of the couch and a bottle of old ketchup adds an eerie look that the house was vacated suddenly.  One of the stories told by a neighbour, is that Madelyn left the house one day to walk down the road to a nearby care facility. She never returned.

Towards 2018, the house was seeing vandalism, nothing remains a secret forever in this hobby. A window was smashed and items tossed down the spiral staircase.

In 2020 the house was allegedly destroyed in a controlled burn by the owners.

May 2015 Photos