INCREDIBLE THINGS PEOPLE HAVE FOUND IN ABANDONED HOUSES

What do the things we leave behind say about us? Well, these eerie abandoned properties and the surprising secrets they’re hiding will certainly make you wonder about their previous owners, and why they left in such a hurry. Click or scroll to discover the strange things that have been discovered in these abandoned homes, from the curious to the downright creepy…

Tucked away in rural Ontario, this dilapidated house has certainly seen better days. The property has sat abandoned for nearly 40 years and remains a perfect time capsule, frozen in 1985. Packed with memorabilia, photographs and family heirlooms, the home tells an interesting story of the family of Polish immigrants who were its first inhabitants back in the early 20^th century and was also hiding one massive surprise…

The home is in a complete state of disarray, with pots and pans discarded in the kitchen sink, rotting furniture strewn across the floor and long out-of-date appliances – such as an old clothes wringer and an antique sewing machine – discarded in corners. Holes in the roof mean that the property’s interiors have been exposed to the elements, further exacerbating the decay of its contents.

However, some items have remained miraculously intact, including what would once have been a high-tech record player, a glamorous evening gown, and this liquor permit, which dates to 1952 and provides a fascinating insight into post-prohibition era alcohol regulation by the Canadian government. Other surviving mid-century documents, such as a collection of school and college books, were once the property of younger members of the family.

However, the most shocking surprise this home was hiding was the whopping $6,800 (£5.3k) in cash that was stashed inside a plastic bag tucked behind an upturned mattress. The dough, which consisted of a combination of American and Canadian dollars, was bound up in rubber bands and marked in pencil, which seemed more than a little suspicious when it was first discovered by freelance photographer Dave of Freaktography.com. We still don’t know just what the stash was used for!

Discovered by photographer Bryan Sansivero, this elegant Jacobean Revival-style home buried in the Catskill mountains of New York dates to 1925 and has sat abandoned for many years. While it remains unclear why its final residents took off in such a rush, what they left behind certainly provides some interesting insight into the lives they might have lived, while raising even more questions as to who they might have been…

Upon entering the home, you will find yourself immediately greeted with fluorescent yellow walls, which, though peeling and mouldering away, are still a shocking find in such an elegant upstate New York residence, particularly when contrasted with the very traditional arched doorframes and dramatic sweeping staircase.

If you travel up that staircase, you’ll discover that things get even stranger with this circus-themed room. With bold primary colours and playful harlequin patterns, walking into this room is like stepping into the Big Top. Whether this was once a highly themed nursery, or simply a stylistic whim of the previous owners is unclear, but having sat abandoned for so long, this derelict circus room is more than a little eerie.

The home’s second staircase is a good bit more sinister than its main entrance version. Croquet balls sit forgotten on the stairs, creating an obvious tripping hazard for anyone attempting the upwards climb, and creating the spooky impression that they were left this way on purpose. Meanwhile, the once-colourful rope handrail adds to the overall circus-esque atmosphere of the home, but leaves us asking: why?

This Colonial Revival in Jacksonville’s historic Springfield neighbourhood dates to 1908 and has been captured by Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast. The Florida home once belonged to David Swearingen, a locksmith for the Southern Bell telephone company, who sadly passed away from Covid in 2020. And, while David and his family are no longer in residence, there are more than a few relics inside this three-bed home that are reminiscent of his line of work.