This property immediately caught my attention as we were on our way home from a day of exploring. It’s always nice to have a ‘bonus find’ when you’re calling it a day. I made a U-turn and pulled into the driveway. The gated drive and lack of footprints told me that this was likely abandoned. The only question was, could we find a way inside?

It was a cold day and we walked quickly to the sliding glass door. To my relief, the door opened! I was impressed with the lack of vandalism. The only damage was some holes in the basement drywall made with the pool table balls.

This property is valued at $14,950,000. According to my research, various people have owned this property – primarily those who operated large businesses. It looks like part of the upstairs was used as a business office.

There were cameras outside the house at one time but the equipment has been removed. The house has an attached three-car garage.

The basement has a table football game and a pool table and a brick fireplace.

Based on city documents that I found online, this property and a significant surrounding area is going to be used for new housing.

This property is located along a busy highway. It could be mistaken for a seasonally used residence from the exterior. The interior is quite run down and lacking any seasonal amenities. The ground floor is filled with old tables in storage. I had to navigate through the tightly packed tables to get to the stairs. Upstairs, there are a trio of paintings created by an unknown artist. Did the artist enjoy the serenity of this remote property for summer painting sessions?

The floor is soft in some spots, so I was careful as I made my way from room to room. I was quick to notice the large bay windows with wooden patterns on each side as well as the pattern below them. The ceiling is in poor condition and several portions of it have fallen in.

The front entrance features red stain glass above the doorway.

When I first saw photos of this property, I felt that I should head out to it as soon as possible before the wrong people found it. It took a bit of sleuthing to find out where it was, but after an hour or so of searching I had the address. This house dates from pre-Confederation, making it over 150 years old. It’s currently on the list of Heritage Designated properties for the city in which it’s found.

And with that I set out for a morning road trip. When I arrived, I parked where I wouldn’t be seen and tried my luck with the doors.

There were several vehicles on the property, which could easily deter someone from getting close. One was a plated Volkswagen that was gone by the time I left. Where they were as I walked past, I don’t know, but I didn’t cross paths with anyone the entire time.

Inside, the house was cold very COLD. I could see my breath as I exhaled. The electricity worked as I randomly tried light switches. There were some dusty cans of food in the kitchen (expiration date: 2018) and a calendar dated 2017.

On a table I observed a syringe and two bottles of Naxolone, which is used to counter the effects of opoids. I wondered if someone might be squatting here but it was so cold inside that I figured whomever these items belonged to, was long gone.

The highlight of course was the main living room, with the arrangement of musical items. In the far corner was a black Stroud piano. Next to it was an electronic Yamaha drum kit with a mixer board and amplifier. There were several framed works of art on the wall, one of which had a miniature violin inside of it. The fireplace featured an oak wood mantle with pillars on each side. The fireplace appears to have been bricked up and then some of the bricks removed again.

A narrow set of stairs lead to an upstairs area where there is a box shaped skylight that protrudes from the roof. The area looks like it may have been used for a sleeping. There was little of interest up here. I did pause to take a video showing the extreme paranormal activity of this property.

After reviewing my photos, I can say that I was quite consistent in my photography. Consistently shooting with a dusty lens and out of focus shots. Shit on a stick. A video walk through of the house is shown below but be forewarned that I start it off with a little rant about the bogus claims of places being “haunted”.

Video

I found these two abandoned houses in the City of Markham, Ontario on a cloudy January day. They were my first explorations of the year. The first house had leaves in the driveway and certainly looked vacant. I observed footprints in the snow that led to the front door, so I was hesitant about approaching. I made my way to the living room windows and peered inside. The living room was empty inside and so I made my way around the back where I found a door was open. There was little of interest inside as the house is neither a heritage property or a mansion.

The second house was located at the end of the same street as the first house. It attracted my attention when I saw it had fencing put up in front of it. It looked like it could still be lived in but the missing hydro meter confirmed that it was vacant. I had no issues finding my way inside this one.

This house sticks out among the surrounding properties. The front windows are covered with plywood and the hydro meter has been removed. Perhaps a develop has set their sights upon this property in the Toronto area.

There’s a sun room in the back of the property looking onto Lake Ontario.

This was a horse farm that sold for $3,000,000 in 2014. The property had a residential home, outdoor swimming pool and stables. I’m surmising that a developer purchased it, given that it’s in some prime real estate territory.

Heritage records indicate the original house was built circa 1835 and was the location of a Christian Church and graveyard.

The typewritten notebook is dated July 1, 1957. I’ve often wondered if these pages were able to be copied or if someone painstakingly re-typed them. Back in my school days, the teacher would type a master copy onto a purple coloured sheet and then spin off copies using a Mimeograph. The papers smelled marvelous when they were handed out.

While the house has a few nice features in the form of woodwork, the house is trashed and probably due to be demolished.

This old house is found in farming country southern Ontario. It features a Victorian style house with an ugly addition built onto the rear. There’s a large barn in the back of the property and a small garage. The land is still in use for farming during the summer months.

Cheques and credit card statements found inside indicate that the man’s name may have been Gordon, who’s profession was a landscaper.

This was the home of Sir Arthur Currie, who was born in this house on December 5, 1875.

Sir Currie was educated in local common schools and at the Strathroy District Collegiate Institute. He also briefly attended the University of Toronto before moving to British Columbia in 1894.

Sir Currie led the 2nd Brigade of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces during key First World War battles at Ypres, Somme, Passchendaele and Vimy.

The house is located on a farmer’s field but you can park out of sight. There’s not much to see inside except for the stairway and the corner hutch. Local citizens would like to see the house saved and receive historic recognition but the elements have other plans.

The house is now demolished.

This property was found by an explorer known as Clay70, while he was looking for the farm from the Canadian horror movie “Deranged”. Clay70 was successful in finding some of the original buildings from the movie.

While this particular property wasn’t part of the movie, it was discovered during his search. This remarkable stone house was known as the James Bradley farm. It was last used by a Doctor David Engel. It’s not known why the cozy cottage was abandoned. When I visited this place, it was quite intact. The ceiling was in good condition and very little had been tossed about.

I found a gold necklace in a jewelry case that said it was 18k gold. 

The ceiling has now caved in, there’s severe rot and damage to the structure and there’s very little of photogenic value left. Remarkably, the canopy bed remains untouched. Someone has taken the wall clock.

This house sits down a long driveway in rural Ontario. There’s a collapsed barn in the field. Whomever lived here is long gone, but something inside the house absolutely stinks. The smell inside is nauseating and I couldn’t only handle being inside for ten minutes.