Abandonment Issues: Hill Top House

After leaving our campsite at Presqu'ile Provincial Park, and after exploring William Prendergast's House and the Prince Edward 7 House, and after being shut out of several more locations on a long beautiful drive through Prince Edward County, we pulled over to the shoulder of Hill Top Road, and approached the Hill Top House.

Another overgrown lawn, another broken window, another unstable floor in the rear of the house. An inflated air mattress and a blanket on the floor of the living room lead us to believe that a squatter may have been present very recently. Also present in this spotless living room is a gorgeous dresser and end table set. A solitary plate, mug and spoon, rest beside the kitchen sink, next to a small cooler. A headboard rests against the far wall in a narrow rectangular baby blue bedroom on the first floor, with another blanket atop it. A small wooden chest sits open at the bottom of the green carpeted stairs, and in front of it is a folded red and navy blue plaid fleece blanket The house is otherwise void of personal possessions. The house is in remarkably decent condition in comparison to most of the places we find. The green carpeted stairs are fading in blotches, and turn on an awkward angle with no banister, leading to the bedrooms upstairs, which are not worthy of note, but for the shag carpet. Those questions arise yet again in my mind: What is the story here? Who lived here and what happened to them? I ask these questions so often, and rarely find any answers, but I don't seem to tire of wondering, which keeps us on the road, and on the hunt for more.

Because I said so, thats why!


Fan of the kitchen


Dish you were here


Squat spot


Drapes of wrath


Baby balue gahh!


Through the looking glass


Green space


Hooked on a feeling


Green carpeted stairs


The edge of the world


Shag baby yeah!


Down and out


And after exploring the Hill Top House, and after finishing the drive back to the campground, the camping good times continued for days.

Another day in the life of jerm & ninja IX



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Abandonment Issues: Prince Edward 7 House

After leaving our campsite at Presqu'ile Provincial Park on Saturday morning, and after exploring Mr. William Prendergast's House in Brighton, and after being shut out of a handful of sealed abandoned houses and a school, we were deep in Prince Edward County, pulling over in front of this old overgrown farmhouse on County Road 7.

The cost of admission was steep: A half dozen bee and hornet stings, over a dozen mosquito bites, and poison ivy from thighs to ankles that is still irritating the shit out of me as I type this post. Still, it could have been worse. When I emerged from the long grass after exploring the house, I did a tick check, which I always do when exploring in areas known to be tick infested. I found a few of them on my legs, which I promptly flicked off. Ticks are often found in long grasses in locations such as this, in many areas around Ontario. They can carry lyme disease, which can be fatal when left untreated. Before now, I'd yet to encounter them, but I remain vigilant, and on this day, that vigilance paid off, and may have spared me a hospital visit.





The dense bushes and trees out front conceal much of the house. But two red brick chimneys peak over the cedar tiled roof and white painted wooden siding of this gorgeous home. Stinging and itching from the stings and bites, I poked around the first floor with my flashlight lighting the way, as most of the windows were boarded up. Ascending the stairs, I looked back at Ninja standing beside the bright red door, and smiled, waving for her to follow. At the top of the stairs stood a bright red desk, and then another desk. Over my shoulder, in a bedroom, I spotted four bright red chairs. This was the only colour in the house: Bright red. "Beautiful banister." Ninja said. I responded silently by passing her the camera. A wooden barrel in the hallway became the focal point for a few minutes as we passed the camera back and forth. Then we repeated that process in the room with the peeling paint on the slanted ceiling, and then in the room with the bright red chairs. And then we did what the previous residents did at some unknown moment in the past, and we left this house behind us.

6 feet high and rising


Who?


What?


When?


Where?


Why?


Bert Walton...


Over a barrel


Bright red desk


Bright red chairs


Where have all the good times gone?


Love is blind


I love this picture


Goodbye


The school down the road was sealed tight unfortunately. It was the Marysburgh Centennial Central School seen below. Hopefully some other explorers will find their way inside soon and share some photos of the interior.



And after being denied access at a few more locations, we pulled up on our final find of the day, the Hill Top House.

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Abandonment Issues: William Prendergast's House

Ninja and I awoke at our campsite at Presqu'ile Provincial Park to the sound of raindrops splashing off of our tent this past Saturday morning, and decided it was time to hit the road in search of abandonments. Within minutes we were pulled to the shoulder of the road under a drizzling grey sky, approaching this old house with its yellow siding and brown aluminum roof in the small community of Smithfield, in Brighton, Ontario.



According to his diploma tacked to a wall and covered in spider webs, William Joseph Prarndargast graduated from York University in 1996 with a Masters Degree in Business Administration. According to his obituary, William Joseph "Bill" Prendergast passed away accidentally in Brighton in 2007, at the age of 50, and was cremated and buried in Burlington.

According to me and my best guesses, based merely on conjecture, this was a second home, and Mr. Prendergast ran a business of some sort from this house in Brighton. This is based on the office space in the house, the four fridges in what should have been a living room, the piles of salvageable metals and dozens of fire extinguishers in a corner, and a gut feeling.

Rumour has it that this house was also once a train station, with the old rail bed still out back.

We made very quick work of the place, as from a photographic viewpoint, it was nothing special. The highlights were the photographs on the floor of an upstairs bedroom, and the vines growing inside through broken windows on the first floor. But from a personal perspective, it was a remarkable exploration. Pondering what may have happened to lead to a house like this to being abandoned, is a question the explorer asks him or herself on a regular basis. But with a name, and an internet search of that name, sometimes you can find an answer to that question quite quickly and easily. In many cases, including this one, the answer is quite sad. We are reminded once again that life goes on, with or without us. I couldn't help but think about my stepfather, and how much I miss him. With Mr. Prendergrast's obituary on the screen of my iphone, I closed the door and said goodbye to Mr. Prendergrast and his old home and place of business.

Enter at your own wish


Dirty rotten scoundrels


Green space


Hooped


Certificates of Academic Achievement


There is a table falling through the ceiling


Hanging out


Holy door


Pot


Cigarettes Can Cause Lung Cancer


Carlo Rossi


Outside in


Serenity now


December 2003


Quality Street


Master bedroom


Loose ends


Vacation in Vancouver photographs


On the road again, we made our way down into Prince Edward County, as the clouds slowly gave way and revealed a beautiful blue sky and a golden sun. With no destination in mind, we just drove and drove, covering as much terrain as possible while searching for more abandonments. We came across a dozen more houses and a school, but could only access the interior of two of the houses. The Prince Edward 7 House and the Hill Top House.

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