Abandoned Houses in Ontario. These may include farms, time capsules, rural properties and luxury homes.
Thamesville is by no means abandoned, it’s a cozy rural town outside of Chatham. I’ve been here many times as a youth to visit my grandparents. For the sake of posterity, I’ve added it to the list of places I’ve explored – in the name of urban exploring of course 🙂
My grandfather used to work as a security guard overnight at Bulldog Steel Wool, way back during the 1980’s. Be forewarned, these photos were taken during my HDR craze days.
The Russell Christie house was built in 1860 by a Scottish settler named John Russell, who arrived in Canada in 1842. Russell was one of a dozen settlers who came to Canada in 1842. The area upon which they settled became known as the ‘Scotch Block’.
The house was built with Neo-Classical and Georgian features, and is located at 1541 Fiddler’s Green Road in Ancaster, Ontario.
Between 1860 and 1984, there were only two owners. In 1934 the house was sold to Reginald A. Christie who lived in the house until his death in 1984.
At the time of my visit the land was being used only for a sod farm. There’s very little left inside the house other than old CD’s, remote controls, school papers, a photo album and several envelopes of birthday cards from the early 2000’s. The name on the envelops reads “Alexia” but I couldn’t find even any results for her on the internet. The real gem of course is the Pontiac GTO which was left out in the barn. The licence plate showed 1973 but I don’t know the date of the car itself. There is also an antique sleigh in the barn.
The property was put up for sale at a price of approximately $2,000,000 which included the driving range next door.
The house was destroyed by fire around March 2017 and the car disappeared about the same time. There is very little left to this day. A company has proposed using the land for solar energy and repairing the house.
Note: The car was rescued from the barn and restored.
The Charles Hambly House is a well known property in the community of Nobleton. The home was originally constructed out of logs, but burned down when a fire broke out. The house was replaced by a red brick Victorian Italianate-style house, built around 1884. The house belonged to a Mr. Charles Hambly. By 1870, Hambly was the owner of a general store and also served as the community postmaster. He served as postmaster until 1894 when the post office moved to the Larkin Store. It was not uncommon for the general stores in villages to also function as the post office. The general store was one of two that operated in the area of Nobleton.
The house was located at the only intersection in the village.
Charles was the son of William Hambly, a United Empire Loyalist who arrived in Canada from the States. Charles had two sons, Elwood and George, who worked in their father’s store.
A developer is looking to build new housing next to this heritage property while preserving and enhancing the Hambly house. It may be used as office space in the future.
The street on which this house can be found, has at least five houses designated to be demolished. This is southern Ontario development, where no property is safe from the wrecking ball. The 4000 square foot house was built just back in 1986.
This southern Ontario property in Burlington was listed at over $6 million dollars. The property value is in striking contrast to the condition of the house, until you notice the surrounding luxury homes located in a prime area. The house seems out of place, given it’s lack of renovations and original architecture. I’d estimate that it was built sometime in the 1960’s.
The house features a small kitchen area, stone fireplace (on both sides of the wall), an impressive view looking out onto the lake, an intercom system and a built in wall record player and cassette deck. These electronics seem to be quite common in older homes.
There’s significant water damage in the ceiling of the main room, and a bucket has been put down to collect water. It seems almost a fools task, given the extent of the damage to the house.
In the basement there’s not much of interest… a walk out patio door, old black and white television set and the skeleton of an old tube radio. Movie posters on the ceiling date back to the 1980’s.
While the property is for sale, clearly it would be for land purchase with demolition to the house itself.
A chain link fence has been constructed along the front yard to keep people out, which seems nonsensical because you can walk around the side of the fence.
Thank you to Sarah for sharing this one. 🙂
A bit of everything from my previous explorations in Ontario…
This house can be found along rural road in a small Ontario town. It looks like construction was never completed on the property. There’s a story that a squatter was one time staying in the house. During my visit, I found bedding on the floor that suggested someone had been staying in the house.
There is a large outbuilding in the back but I didn’t explore the inside.
I passed by this house on my way home from a day of exploring.
The exterior of the house appealed to me, and so I turned around for photos. It was largely disappointing to see the windows and doors boarded up but the exterior architecture indicated that it might be worth a closer look.
I was able to step through a smashed window, and observe what looked like an office area. The interior was a let down compared to the exterior. Until… I found the staircase and the stain glass.Kids have opened cans of paint and strewn it about the floor where its tacky and plentiful. You don’t want to step into it.
This property is located in the City of London. The Sunningdale Road property will likely be demolished. It sits across the street from the property where the London Party Mansion used to be. The outdoor clothing closet by the front entrance features nice stain glass.
There’s a nice staircase leading to the second flood, and a hot tub with skylight.
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This house was a testimont to the care that went into designing a house in bygone eras. It had a nice fireplace, frosty windows, French doors, ironing board cabinet and an antique Singer sewing machine.
The house was located in Central Elgin, Ontario.
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