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Home for Incurable Children

The brand new video is at the link below!!

https://youtu.be/LvahXmJGzIo

Let's begin this location by showing you what the exterior of the building looks like!!

The Home for Incurable Children began in 1899 as 22 women gathered for a meeting over tea to form a committee (18 of those would later found the top pediatric hospital in the world)!  This meeting also led to what is now known as Canada's largest children's rehabilitation hospital.

Overgrown, fenced off and rapidly deteriorating sits this Georgian Revival Style estate home that was built in 1914.  The land was owned by a man and his wife named Edward and Betty, it was a sprawling piece of property comprised of 100 acres.  They later sold the property to Robert in 1925, Robert broke up parts of the property selling it to various people one of whom went by the name of Alice.  Alice moved into the home with her husband George and their many children, the family nicknamed the property Primrose Hill.  Pieces of the property continued to change hands over the years to various people until 1987 when 30 acres of land where the building sits was sold to a private hospital. Then one year later the government funded the purchase of this same land to form a new 100 bed hospital for children that were too old for the pediatric hospital.  Many of the people that resided at this hospital were eventually transitioned to group homes and in 1994 the building and property were sold to a religious organisation.  The new owners used the current building until 2007 when a new structure was built and the this former hospital has sat abandoned ever since.

The building was designated a heritage structure in 2012 and is listed on the city's register which protects it according to the Ontario Heritage Act.  There is a development proposal that would include a six-storey senior's building, an eight-storey condominium, 60 three-storey townhouses and a private secondary school, which would require the heritage building to be moved approximately 80 metres to a new location.

Der Fürstenhof

The Marble Mansion

The video is below if you haven't seen it already!!

https://youtu.be/Hhs7FD5l8Dw

Today we take a look at the highlight of this location, the living room that has a couch with matching walls, the laundry room and the bedrooms!!

I was talking with my friend about this location the other day and I mentioned that I was pissed off that it's trashed now because it's one of my favourite locations.  Then he reminded me that I didn't really like it when he and I visited a few years ago.  The location has apparently grown on me over the years because it is now in my top ten!  The scale and the extravagant nature of the location is what draws people to places like this but I think what made me appreciate it so much later on was the simplicity of the design and it really allowed me to focus my photography more on the lines and shapes rather than the actual building.

This abandoned mansion is absolutely huge with 20 foot ceilings, with extensive marble finishings throughout and even a living room that almost looks as though it was designed for a mental health patient as opposed to a home owner.  Mostly white throughout with clean lines and shapes this home was a pleasure to photograph.  The home was custom built in 1985 by architect Jack Winston and was likely lived in until just a few short years ago.  The property was recently listed for $14 million but the owners had to settle for the paltry sum of $13 million.

The original owner of the home was the founder of a large commercial and residential real estate development company, the company was involved in the building of many condominiums and commercial buildings in the surrounding region.  The owner died in 2013.

This mansion along with other homes in the area was recently tied up in an alleged mortgage fraud scam involving multiple parties and the investigation is still ongoing.

Stoned Bungalow

Check out the video if you haven't already done so!!

https://youtu.be/Ef1B37gAZIU

Let's take a look at what the common areas had to offer in this incredible stone house!!

Located out in the country in a secluded area sitting on 28 acres of land, yet still close enough to the city to get all of your daily needs, sits this abandoned raised bungalow.  Built with stone and wood, I imagine this place would have been a great place to live away from everything.  As I walked down the overgrown driveway and approached the home, it was obvious that the house had been abandoned for a number of years.  The stonework and woodwork evident as soon as the building came into view, it was partially surrounded by a wraparound deck that was weathered, worn and no longer safe to use.

Once inside I was absolutely blown away by the workmanship of the home, there was stonework everywhere from the fireplace to the archway and even the the framing around the large canvas painting.  What wasn't stone was made out of wonderfully coloured stained wood.  With thick solid beams along the roofline and even an unprocessed tree that still had the grooves left by the bugs that had once called it home.  There were fancy one of a kind light fixtures as well as custom designed taps and a very large main bathroom.  I found a calendar on the wall as well as canned goods in the cupboards, with dates ranging from 2009-2019 but given the amount of decay, I think this one has been abandoned for somewhere between 5-10 years.

This was once somebody's dream home that I am sure cost a ton of money to build but I would imagine it was worth every penny.  Custom homes like this are one of a kind and I don't doubt that in today's market, it would cost an absolute fortune to build, especially give the volatile lumber prices of late.