#urban exploring

Eye See You

If you are keen, you can check out the video here:

Next we move inside to look at the main floor and the basement…you don't want to miss the etched glass, the woodwork and the unusual light fixtures!

Built in the early 1900s, this home was one of many similar style houses located along a busy street in the city. Despite its location, I got the feeling that it was a really nice and calm neighbourhood to live in, one where you waved to your neighbour in the morning on the way to work.

But like so many detached home areas in this part of the country, they are slowly being gutted, one by one. Originally bought by a developer in 2021, they held onto it before putting it up for sale again a year and a half later. The new buyer didn't waste any time though, they started building almost immediately.

Since the lot is not overly huge, the new mansion being built in its place takes up more than 50% of the land. All the trees are gone and I have no doubt that the rest of the plot will be covered in hard surfaces.

Agriculture to Industry

If you like, there is also a video to get a better sense of what this farmhouse was like!

Now let's move inside the home and check out the ground floor, including the large kitchen as well as the staircase!

This Edwardian Foursquare style farmhouse had been sitting abandoned for about three years at the time of my visit. The main house looks as though it had likely been built in the early 1910s but it also had a rear addition probably built in the 70s. Like most farmhouses in the region, it also had a large wooden barn and a smaller garage on the property.

The house was still in relatively good condition with a slightly flooded basement and a few areas with peeling paint. However, it looked as though nobody had been here in quite a while as the home also had some extensive cobwebs. The home was very colourful and a refreshing change from otherwise bland interiors. The barn however wasn't fairing so well with the walls basically falling apart from neglect.

Bathroom Surprise

As always, you can check out the video here!

Moving downstairs for our final post from this location, we check out the colourful room along with the incredible stained wood within this house!

This house was a bit of an odd one. It sat at the end of a fairly major road, and according to map apps, the road technically continued to a dead end right beside the property. In reality, it looked much more like the home's private driveway.

It appears the house was abandoned around 2020, when a fence was erected around the building. Around the same time, the front steps leading to the sunroom were removed and temporary supports were installed beneath the front wall. The sunroom seemed to develop a significant lean, remaining in that condition for at least a couple of years. By the time I visited in 2022, however, the fence had been removed.

The house was likely built in the early 1900s and featured extensive old-growth timber used in the doorways, trim work, and other architectural details. One particularly interesting feature was a large circular air register on the upper floor, manufactured by the James Smart Manufacturing Company. The company specialized in iron products and is perhaps best known today for its cast-iron cookware, examples of which can still be found online.

The home also contained one of the most unusual upstairs bathrooms I have ever encountered. It was incredibly photogenic and a real pleasure to see in person.

They never found him, and they haven't since.