Abandoned Country Villa

One day I spotted something interesting on Google maps which turned out to be this incredible Abandoned Country Villa!







In the summer of 1919, a wealthy Toronto Merchant & his wife headed to the countryside at the request of their close friend who was a wealthy industrialist.  He wanted his closed friends to experience the beautiful countryside in which he & his wife had their own estate on & hoped to encourage them to also build an estate. The merchant's wide immediately fell in love with the countryside & purchased a large parcel of land.







The 7,000 square foot Norman chateau-style mansion, which was built in the 1920's was the first stage in the development of the sprawling estate.   The original use was a summer home however the family eventually decided to sell their Toronto mansion & move to the country & build an even larger mansion.   The newer mansion, which is still active today was completed in 1939.   During the second world war, the main house was used as a military hospital & the family stayed in the villa.







After the war, the family moved back into their enormous mansion & lived there until 1970 when the wife passed away, 48 years after her husband.  The land was sold & the villa, for a time, was used as an arts program & then later management programs for a nearby college.  Today the mansion has been abandoned & is in absolutely terrible condition.







When I first read about this mansion I was surprised I had never saw any pictures of it before as it holds quite a significant historical value!   Seeing as the grounds are patrolled by security both Zenning with Zay decided it was best to hike in to ensure we do not draw any unwanted attention.  Within no time we found ourselves inside & in absolute amazement with what we had found!  As with many explores, we started on the upper floor which was VERY decayed as with the rest of the Abandoned Country Villa.  We especially had to be careful with the floors as we could see some collapses & heavy water damage.  The rooms were large & all had many windows & many with fireplaces.  I was shooting in one room when Zay called my attention to another.  All I could saw was "WOW!"







This room had decay on such a grand scale the likes I had never come across in Ontario.  I have been in many houses where floors are collapsing however never inside a mansion!  It was risky but I used extreme caution to ensure my safety when in not only this room but the others.  The rest of the upper floor also boasted amazing decay!







The main floor was equally impressive as the upper floor.  Ample amounts of decay through out & the best part was the complete lack of vandalism.  The mansion is collapsing causing the overall structure to shift which I suspect lead to many, if not all of the broken windows.  I must say that the one room with the major collapse is hands down my most favourite part of the mansion!






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