This house is a mid-century ranch-style home containing four bedrooms and three bathrooms. According to information found online, it’s been vacant for over 10 years now. I can find no reference to what the house’s address or who the former occupants may have been.

The front door is broken off the hinges allowing elements inside. Sections of the roof have deteriorated and collapsed into the house. There’s black mold throughout. There are numerous boxes of wicker furniture new in packaging. One theory is that the owners operated a business out of the house, while another is that it was used for storage. 

In the rear of the property are two outbuildings, a pool and tennis court. The west side of house contains a three car garage. For the forseeable future there seem to be no plans for demolition of the property.

This was an alleged licensed grow operation. On my first visit, I could observe that the electricity had been altered. HVAC tubing had been run from the basement up to the bedrooms. The attic had remnants of plants and shake. Most much every room in this house was altered to grow marijuana. The only room left untouched was the kitchen.

During my second visit on May 23, 2022 I found that most of the interior has been gutted down to the studs. The kitchen is completely gone.

This house has now been demolished as of 2022.

May 23, 2022 Photos

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This house is located in North York, Ontario. The Toronto area is filled with similar properties that have been purchased by development companies with the intention to build new condo housing. This will be the future home of a three storey building with 7 condos. As with many developer properties, the electricity is still working.

This house was a random find as we were ending our exploration day in May 2022. It was next to a gas station in Kleinburg that we stopped at for fuel. The black and white tiled room reminds me of the text adventure game Miser (Mansion). The red stained glass in the front room lit up the hallway in bright red rays. Nothing very exciting about this find. There are some derelict trucks outside.

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This property was found in King, Ontario. Outside there was an in-ground swimming pool, pond, guest house and large barn. The property may have been used to board horses.

The house was built in 1891 and is was included in Ontario’s heritage property list. Additions were made to the house over the years to both sides of the house and shed dorners added to the roof. After renovations to the house, it was removed from the Ontario Heritage Listing. The property offered privacy as it was situated away from the road at the end of a long driveway.

As I made my way to the stairs leading into the basement, I observed mold on the walls. Over time, the basement had flooded to about two feet of water and the entire room was now filled with mold. The basement contained a pool table, ping pong table, Foosball table and a very old Mason & Risch piano from the early 1900’s.

The surrounding land is used for farming. In fact on the same day we drove past here, we observed a truck go down the driveway. We waited for it to leave and then parked off-site.

GPS: 43.947432 -79.516483

This house was built in 1979 and is situated on 39,000 square feet of land. It was listed for sale at $5,500,000. There’s an outdoor tennis court, five bedrooms, seven bathrooms. The house has an almost commercial appearance to it, and lacks the warmth of a residence. It was last in use as a private Christian school by the name of Heritage International School. They are listed as offering grades 7 through 12 with a strong academic curriculum as well as Arts programs in Visual Arts, Drama (Musical Theatre), Music (Band, Orchestra), Physical Education, and extra-curricular program. The students are primarily Korean.

The MLS listing indicates there’s an indoor pool but on my visit, it was covered over with plywood. Several of the bedrooms have panic buttons, leading me to think this was some sort of residential setting for youth. Out back is a children’s tree house.

In 2018, a developer applied for a permit to build nine, three storey townhouses with rooftop terraces on the land. Since that time, the property has remained untouched.

An online blog post from 2020 shows a much different house, one that appears ready for occupancy. My exploration photos are from 2019. It appears that the house has once again been relisted for sale, this time for $5,800,000.

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This house was built during the 1950’s. The interior has remained relatively untouched since that time, an architectural time capsule. The belongings on the other hand are modern day.  When I returned to this house in late 2019, it had been stripped down to the studs.

This house is located on Wilket Street in Toronto. Its life is short however because it’s destined to become the site of 7 new townhouses named Bayview on the Park. The three-storey townhouses will be for sale starting at $3,000,000. On January 18, 2016 the Ontario Municipal Board ruled that the developer could proceed with plans to build after the City of Toronto stalled on making a decision.For now this house sits untouched, with working electricity.

This was the home of Paul and his wife Edith. Paul grew up in Windsor, Ontario. He began drawing with a pencil at the age of 4. By the age of 17, Paul was playing the trumpet. When he began listening to Ray Charles, Paul converted to soul, jazz and blues music.

In the 1960s he played in Ronnie Hawkins’ band.

Paul’s father was a painter and provided Paul with lessons in drawing. Paul was inspired to begin painting and sketching the African-American musicians he was fond of listening to. By 1993 he became more serious about his paintings and by 1998, he had painted approximately 200 paintings. Some of the commissioned works Paul has created are shown in homes in the USA, U.K. and Europe. He also sells his work on E-Bay, evidence of which was discovered when I explored the house (see video).

In the late 1990’s he played saxophone for local jazz festivals and was in a gospel band.

The Exploration

The house has had some of its windows removed, most of the contents are gone except for what was unwanted (old computer accessories and sketch books). Paul left behind his electronic keyboard, mixing board and guitar amplifier. There are two large outbuildings which are also empty. The front lawn has been torn up and the trees uprooted. This house doesn’t have long before the bulldozer will come in and tear it down.

I do not own the rights to Paul’s work, they remain his copyright. A huge thank you to Jason E. for sharing this place with me.

Mobile Photo Photos

This house sits on prime land located along Harrison Road in North York, Ontario. It is by no means outdated. This house was built only in 1996, but that hasn’t stopped developers from tossing wads of cash at the owners in an effort to squeeze more housing in place. The developer’s proposal is for a 3-level six unit condo.

The developer sought a zoning By-law amendment that would allow for the six unit structure. In 2016, the City of Toronto sought a community meeting to obtain input from the surrounding property owners. By December of 2016 it was recommended that Toronto City Council refuse to grant the application, which they did.

As of August 2020 the developer was appealing to the OMB, the refusal by the City of Toronto to allow the zoning By-law amendment. Neighbours were opposed to the condos which they said would be out of character with the existing community. The developer’s appeal was granted but I don’t know the outcome of it any hearing has since been scheduled.

The property had an outdated listing as a bed and breakfast though I could find no information other than the address. In the winter of 2021 into 2022, a pipe had burst above the kitchen and water was gushing down into the kitchen. During our March 2022 visit the water had been turned off. Despite the torn up structures and water damage, the electricity was still working.

Based on the ripped out backsplash and dishwasher along with the water flooding, it’s my opinion that scrappers may have caused this damage.

The dining room features a nice chandeleir and a ceiling medallion. In the rear of the house are a set of double doors leading out to a patio. The wooden floors are buckled in many places, a testament to the continous water that was left running.

For now the house sits vacant, it’s future up in limbo and the only visitors are the occasional photographer and scrapper.

As of November 2022 there is fresh plywood on the doors.