This property contained a few businesses including a distributor of consumer goods and a mattress store. It’s largely gutted now and most of the contents have been scattered outside. One day I decided to satisfy my curiosity and went inside mainly to shoot some video for you – the viewer. I was inside for approximately 20 minutes when I observed a truck pull up next to my vehicle. The truck had been parked behind a gate, and I commented on the video that I expected I’d be caught.

Just before I noticed the truck, I’d found a metal box filled with several 35 mm photo slides.

The owner wasn’t sure what to expect of me, but I quickly reassured him that I meant no harm. The man was polite but did insist that I leave. He said that he was in the process of securing the property. And sure enough, the next day there were boards on the front doors.

Fast forward to about a week later. I’ve always been interested in old slides, because they tell a tale of life before social media where everything one does today is put on the internet. They date back to prior eras that fascinate me. I wonder what happened to the people in the photos, are they still alive? I marvel over the retro decorum of the houses.

This week I passed by the property and noticed that the truck was back in front of the building and the door barricades had been removed. I did something that I’ve not done before. I pulled into the lot and asked the man if he remembered me. He didn’t initially as he said that he’s had to chase several people off the property. Some of them are scrappers, some are looking for things to steal, and some even claim to own the property. In fact someone had been back to break through the doors that I’d seen barricaded with plywood.

I was straight to the point. I explained that there were some slides inside that I’d be interested in scanning in for historical purposes. The man initially said that he couldn’t part with anything as it was part of his family’s estate that had to be settled. I presume his parents had passed away leaving the property behind. I said that I’d like to purchase the slides. This changed his disposition and he asked me how much? I made him an offer and with that, he went inside and retreived the slides.

I can publish these images to you, with the permission of the former owner. I told him that if I found anything of interest on the slides, I’d let him know – and I joked that hopefully there were no nudes. I believe that the people shown in the images would be the man’s parents.

This house was built in 1952. In 2016, it sold for $1.1 million. In 2018, a capital company acquired the property utilizing a mortgage taken out through Building Development and Mortgages Canada. They planned to build a new subdivision on the land along with two other adjacent properties that were purchased. The town committee would not allow primary road access from the main road to the proposed development which meant that access would have to come from the north. In January of 2021 the borrower listed the properties for sale citing that they had no funds to continue with the subdivision development.

The other two properties can be seen here and here.

This house was built in 1952. In 2016, it sold for $4.2 million.

In 2018, a capital company acquired the property utilizing a mortgage taken out through Building Development and Mortgages Canada. They planned to build a new subdivision on the land along with two other adjacent properties that were purchased.

The town committee would not allow primary road access from the main road to the proposed development which meant that access would have to come from the north. In January of 2021 the borrower listed the properties for sale citing that they had no funds to continue with the subdivision development.

The houses were listed for sale through a power of sale and were sold in 2022 along with two neighbouring houses for $9,000,000. The property is currently being advertised as the future location of town houses.

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This house was built in 1951. In 2016 the property was purchased for $4,500,000.

In 2018, a capital company acquired the properties utilizing a mortgage taken out through Building Development and Mortgages Canada. They planned to build a new subdivision on the land.

The town committee would not allow primary road access from the main road to the proposed development which meant that access would have to come from the north. In January of 2021 the borrower listed the properties for sale citing that they had no funds to continue with the subdivision development.

The house was listed for sale through a power of sale and was sold in 2022 along with two neighbouring houses for $9,000,000. The property is currently being advertised as the future location of town houses.

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This house was constructed in 1966. As of 2022, applications have been filed with the city in which this house is found, to demolish this house and build a new two storey one. The present value of the property is approximately $1,600,000.

This luxury house located in the GTA was the location of a fire in 2011 which is believed to have originated in the basement heating system. The property has sat abandoned for the last thirteen years which is surprising given the prices of land in this upscape area of the GTA.

I’ll update the blog posting when I have more details on the property.

The story of this house goes back to 1964 when it was first built. The original owner was a man named Kerry Hill. Kerry graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and spent his career as a patent attorney. Kerry was also a stone mason, which means that he could have certainly have built the home himself. In 1993 his wife Jennie was added to the house’s title.

In 2013 the property was sold for $1,340,625. It was then resold in 2015 for $1.6 million. What the status of the house was from 2015 until 2022 is not clear. In 2022 the property was purchased for $2.2 million by a numbered company.

There was a committee meeting held in 2020 regarding the property. This was likely for permission to demolish the structure. The house interior doesn’t look at all like a home, but more like an office space. Given the abundance of cobwebs in the basement, I’m thinking that the houses’s final years were strictly as an upstairs business office.

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A four bedroom, four bathroom house located in the Greater Toronto area. Given the plywood covering the windows and doors, as well as the outdated interior, I think this will be a teardown. The bathroom is reminiscent of the 1970’s as is the basement bar. The stories that basement bar could tell.

Explored in fall of 2023

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In fall of 2023, I returned to the Bitcoin Miner House. This was an original find of mine that I’d visited earlier in the summer. It’s evident that scrappers have found the property and that kids have been here.

There are beer bottles littering the front of the property. Inside, several walls have been smashed by people searching for copper piping & wiring. Scrappers have ripped off the mirrors from the wall, to poke holes in the drywall in search of pipes. Marble tiles that lined the foundation of the hot tub have been taken as has the stain glass from the bathroom. In the bedroom, a television has been destroyed and a sink ripped out from its cabinet.

During my first visit, the walls were untouched and no copper had been taken. You learn in this hobby that photographers aren’t the only ones interested in these houses. Besides the scrappers, the homeless also frequent these properties. You can read about my encounter with one in this very house at the link in the first paragraph.

Attempts have been made to secure the property including fresh plywood over the windows and 2×4’s across the doors. The property is being sold for the land, which given the neglect shown the house, is just as well.

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