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Category / Abandoned

Chateau Miranda is Here to Break Your Heart

Her turrets sprouted mushrooms, and vines ate up her halls once filled with aristocrats, candelabras, and plushy velvet lounges. It was one of Belgium’s grandest castles, but the Chateau Miranda had run out of time —at least according to its guardian, the Count de Liedekerke-Beaufort. In October of last year, he set the 100-room giant ablaze…

For Sale: Your ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ Fixer-Upper Awaits

When Matthew Hampshire drops us a line, we know it’s time to head into the belly of yet another crumbling beauty. This time, the photographer gave us a peek inside one of his lushest expeditions to date, in the hills of northern Italy at the ghostly Villa Moglia. Step behind her gates for yourself, but…

The Supersized Ghost City

Welcome to no man’s land, sorry, Naypyidaw, the vast and empty ghost city that became the brand new capital of Burma a decade ago when the government suddenly announced it was moving the capital from Rongoon, without explanation. If you’ve never heard of the place or never seen pictures of it before, that’s perfectly normal. Most…

The Abandoned Holiday Villas of the Pablo Escobar Empire

When Mr. Escobar wasn’t bombing commercial airlines carrying over a hundred innocent passengers to eliminate one of his enemies on board, spending $2,500 a month worth of rubber bands to wrap up his billions in cash, offering to pay off Colombia’s national debt or engaging in gunfights with Colombian police squads, Pablo liked to kick…

Downton Abbey meets the Flintstones: England’s Abandoned Rock Houses

I don’t watch Downton Abbey, but if it were set inside houses like these, I think I probably would! Welcome to Holy Austin Rock in Staffordshire, England. These medieval cave houses carved from sandstone were abandoned by the last residents in the 1960s, but people were living happily inside them for over three centuries before…

The Zoo that Hid Jews from the German Army

It’s at times of great inhumanity that you can find the greatest examples of humanity, if you look closely enough. During WW2, the Warsaw Zoo provided shelter to over 200 Jews who sought refuge from the horrors of the Holocaust. Several families were hosted in the residential villa of the zoo’s owners, and temporary hiding-places were created…

Couple Buy an Abandoned French Chateau, Start a Blog to Share Their Journey

There are many reasons why you might start a blog, but documenting the revival of an 18th century neoclassical ruin seems like a pretty damn good reason if you ask me. In 2013, Australian husband & wife team Karina and Craig Waters purchased the Chateau de Gudanes, a decaying fairytale mansion in the Midi-Pyrénées that had…

Paradise Lost at the Botanist’s Mansion

For as long as I can remember, this strange and beautiful house above the sea has fascinated me — and this may be the last time I ever see it. Scheduled for complete demolition in a matter of months, it might not be the most ostentatious of old buildings, but it captured my childhood imagination.…

Check in to the Most Beautiful Insane Asylum in the World

When you picture a mental asylum, this is probably not quite the image that pops up. Stark hallways and dungeon-like holding cells is what Hollywood has taught me to imagine, but over in the rolling hills of Tuscany, flying over the cuckoo’s nest was done in style once upon a time… Photographs (c) Alex Doomer Palatial grounds,…

London Loos to Luxury Living: Before & After

It takes a special sort of mind to walk into abandoned public toilets (the men’s room, not even the ladies) and think, yep, this is my future home. But for young London-based architect Laura Jane Clark, the filthy and crumbling Crystal Palace Parade underground loos somehow spoke to her. Built in 1929 and last used…

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