Abandoned 1850's Victorian Mansion with Secret Tunnel | Ohio Urbex 2020
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- This huge Victorian Mansion was built in the late 1850's or early 1860's by a county Judge and farmer. Another amazing abandoned place in Ohio with rich history and legend of tunnels used for the underground railroad.
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I know where this house is I grew up very close to it in a 1980 my family nearly bought it and took several long tours of the house...but even then at that point the state of disarray and decay was very evident...What’s even more interesting Is that when I met my husband six years ago we were talking about the house and come to find out his father lived there for the first part of life...a very wealthy but dysfunctional family in that county owned that home and several other magnificent homes in the area as well as large tracts of land of which my husband’s father family leased it from and farmed the land around it for almost 20 years...We were there about two years ago as well but we went at night time...it is absolutely a completely different vibe...final note you missed the Spring House which is where my husband’s father said they kept all their meats and cold items and it would stay cool throughout the summer and always had water in the springhouse so something to check for if you go back...you were correct about the outbuilding it was the kitchen and there is a secret staircase that you missed as well...
Oh wow
What city/county is this located? Love the history of this place. What is the plans for it now. I hope NOT homes that will roof top to roof top!
curious was town it’s in as well! i also live in southern ohio
Robin Allen. Hello. Fascinating information!!! So disappointed that we missed the secret staircase!! With the fireplace in the basement l always understood that it would have been the original kitchen. The outbuilding kitchen--would that have been the summer kitchen or the only kitchen? What would the basement with the fireplace have been used for. Also, I’m thinking this house may be older than 1860- the style, the simplicity, the fireplaces and the basement fireplace. Thank you❤️
Ooo do tell about this staircase.
Anything this beautiful should be restored, especially if it is connected to the underground railroad. We are losing our historic buildings and many rare woods in the process.
It's not part of the underground railroad regardless it should be restored, it's not just history but art as well.
It is beautiful, but it would cost a heartbreaking amount of money to restore. A lot of the timber would need to be replaced entirely.
We've lost real craftsmanship ~ Quality and character. Trade's long gone. We have so much to learn from these old relics... globally.
Loved the explore! Just by the by, that's not a widow's peak. A widow's peak has to do with a person's hair line. You're probably thinking of a widow's walk, a New England thing where there was a narrow walkway on the roof from which a person could see ships in the harbor. What this house has is called a cupola.
Thanks for the information.. Someone else said it's also called a Widow's Walk as well..
You're correct I was thinking the sane thing .
Same I meant. Lol
Widow's Walk
The difference between cupola and widow's walk is that the latter is opened? I think cupolas have a roof and walls.
I have to say, 11 years ago I bought an ancient house here in Ohio that I believe was built about 1829. The other day I discovered an "anomaly" in the basement. I have searched this old hose many times before and carefully measured distances and walls and have found there are definitely large cavities inside some areas. I have found hidden secret hiding places to stash items but so far all were empty. I found all those when I first bought the house. I discovered a small room through a secret entrance many years after living in the house that surprised me! I believed back when I first bought the house that there may be or have been a room under the front yard and/or the porch area. After the discovery the other day, there HAS to be! I have to move all the junk in that area to gain access now to find a way inside! This story could get real interesting fast!
Oh I am incredibly intrigued by this
Film it!
Any updates yet??
@@stellarjayatkins4749 Yes, I have discovered an access hole the other day thanks to cobwebs waving in a breeze coming out of the small hole going into the ground in front of the house. NOW I'm on to something. Unfortunately we just got dumped on with over 12 inches of snow and freezing weather down to 0 degrees with wind chill factor. No digging probably until spring. I need to do some clearing in the basement to get at the wall. Lots of stuff piled up and a huge full shelf unit against that wall that needs moved. This is getting exciting over here (down here in the basement).
Updates please!
This home must have been stunning in its day. Makes me sad it was let to rot way.
I agree. What I hate worse is when a very old building built way back then gets demolished. To me its heartbreaking. I love the old places. Seems like alot has happened in this place.
It was a plantation home for slaves what's good about this...🤷♂️
@@dreamkloud8945 Ohio is located well above the Mason Dixon line! All of Ohio was part of the union they didn’t farm with slaves.
As a a
@@dreamkloud8945 duuude, it's in Ohio. They were not confederates. They were union. This is where the people ran to escaping slavery. There were many houses with secret closets to hide and help in Ohio for Ms Tubman's underground railroad. This is probably one of them.
I am now restoring a house built in 1885. It has been abandoned over 23 years and the roof leaked in 3 places all that time. It is an act of love. A LOT of work but it will be beautiful when I'm done
How many hundreds of thousands is the budget for this project?
I would LOVE to buy a house like that. I can for sure say that I would never buy a new home or have one built. If I had the budget to do that I would much rather buy an old home and restore (not Judy remodel) it. I get actually sad when I see old victorian homes bought, then be gutted and remodeled into a modern looking house. Boo! There are so many ways to keep the original architecture and unique aspects of the house while making it look nice
I'm doing most of the work myself. I did have to have new gas lines, plumbing and electric put in and the roof fixed. Other than that I'm doing it myself. Repairing plaster, stripping beautiful wood, repairing the window sashes and weights. The outside is stripping old paint with a heat gun, sanding, using wood filler (on oak siding), resanding, wiping off dust, priming and painting. There are 98 spindles on the porch to be stripped, primed and painted. Can you believe the city was going to tear it down???? Grrrrr
I’m happy for you. I always wanted to buy a historic home and fix it up. My wife doesn’t want anything to do with it.
I love to hear you are doing that, 7 years ago after prayer for many a years, I was able to buy back my old family home that my father built it was in ruins but I had a lot of help and in 9 months made it livable my husband and I have done much more to it in the past few years it's funny back in the day it was the most beautiful house in our area then it became the worst and now it's even nicer then it was growing up here so tho it took time I don't or never will regret fixing it up.
The trim work in that place is gorgeous and the top porch is amazing. Someone needs to restore it back to its original place.
Would take alot of money & alot of time! As most of the wood work is very damaged! The stairs have no railings! Probably someone took them as they too were probably very sturdy & ornately carved! And things are missing off the fire places those too probably very beautifully carced artwook too! Very sad something so old & beautiful just rotting more & more as time goes on! 😒😒😒😒😒😒
@@pattihainline1573 f
@@pattihainline1573
has AVC aardvark aai vas’s c
Its too damaged. It would have to be duplicated
It is beautiful as this historic bando some places should stay as a bando it’s beautiful and historic
Instead of building new, should we not save what we already have!?
I couldn’t agree more. Nothing beats the character of an old building
Go ahead and pony up the millions. This one is a list cause. Nice to appreciate it for what it is.
Its what im doing house im looking at has been empty 15yrs
When it costs much much more to save these homes.. that is where the problem is.. and then .. of course energy efficiency... i know someone with a home from the 1800s and it costs them $1000 a month to heat it in the winter...... and required extensive electrical upgrading as well as plumbing $$$$$$$$$$$
Too expensive to do all the repairs
Restored a property which was in worse shape than this one, it takes a special person to love a discarded home and bring it back to life. Fifteen years ago, restored a Victorian from 1825 and completed in 1840 belonging to the first Mayor of Jackson, James C. Wood.
It breaks my heart to these any old home or building in this state. I hope someone will fix it up again.
Lots of solid wood to re-purpose also
Oh that sound nice Gloria, how are you doing with your your family I hope you’re safe from the crazy covid?
That's awesome, wish I had the funds and knowledge to do something like that. I wanna have my own Victorian one day, God willing.
yes Ive seen it done by a team of three, with an extra hand here or there on a spare weekend and it is entirely possibly even on a shoestring budget between 3-4 years. It takes an incredible amount of love and appreciation, dedication, tools, research, tons of elbow grease and a can do attitude!
If there was a tunnel it was probably closed off by bricks. Some of the bricks behind the furnace looked suspect. Lots of houses from that era had tunnels that connected to other houses. The historic houses in my area have them.
Found all over Ohio and Michigan and yes many of the tunnels were bricked off as these tunnels are no longer safe for passage.
There's tunnels under the playboy mansion too. Wonder what they were really for?
What were the tunnels used for?
@@faithingod9554 probably hookers and cocaine
@@faithingod9554 they connected to other houses. I don't know why. Some of the houses are late 1700s to early 1800s. Maybe they used them for hiding stuff or people.
That outbuilding would have been the summer kitchen so the house didn't get heated up when it was hot outside.
Also to eliminate risk of fires for wooden homes.
underground tunnels were often too low to the ground to walk thru in an upright position.
You just kept breezing past the access points tho.
Was a hands and knees proposition in most places along the escape route. Ehhhhh...
Will this property be torn down ie mainly the house?
The Underground Railroad wasn’t actually underground or a railroad.
Some houses in the North had underground passages and rooms for hiding runaway slaves. Not a lot but there were some.
Omg someone said it!! Thank you!
Parts of it were underground. Usually using natural caverns especially in states like Missouri.
Some were underground in Ohio on the river .
Yeah most people know that but, there was a lot of “underground” hiding places along the way. Google Cadiz NY or franklinville NY. There’s a lot of places here that were part of it and have quite a few underground hiding places.
For sure outdoor kitchen . My aunt has a large house in Washington court house built in 1869 with the original outdoor kitchen and carriage house still in tact .
Was gonna say the same
That is awesome! I grew up in a southern middle TN 1830 home. In mid OH now.
I can only imagine what the house looked like back in its heyday. There has to be some pictures at the historical society in the town, if they have one.
There are. I actually worked with a historical society after we made the first video. I should probably follow up and see if they made some progress in protecting the place. It’s definitely not getting any better 😿
@@OnceOccupied cool, hoping there was would be nice to see them. Thanx for the video.
@@OnceOccupied Could you copy and post pics to your instagram?
I did make sure you’re looking at the right Instagram handle. It’s @ooccupied
It is not for sale and is owned by the farmer that has his farm on the property.
Next time, put your eyes on your knees and you will see the small archways where people had to crouch down to go into the tunnel, First one is on the left side of the furnace and across the room and behind the furnace, there is a continuance thru another knee hi archway.
Its not a railroad passage like the union station, with seats and a big clock over the entrance.
Just a crawl thru the wall.
I’ll never understand how houses like this are allowed to rod like this when so many people are homeless. It’s also very weird to see what was left behind from people who lived there with children.
@P. A. 🤨. Anyway … it probably has more to do with property taxes and maintenance costs. Roofs on old Victorian houses are in the thousands to maintain. Especially specific roofs like a Mansard or low hipped roof like this Italianate would have. You can spend up to 100 grand on materials for a Victorian mansions roof.. and you need to hire a contractor that has worked with century homes too. The tunnel in the basement is probably part of the Underground Railroad to Canada. A lot of Victorian houses in the northern US would have secret tunnels for this purpose of transporting former slaves to safety.
@P. A. i wouldnt get too happy...non whites cant maintain what we created....have fun freezing
@@nekoti.8-2 I know here in Canada if you have a heritage home , the province will give you an allotted amount towards restoration costs , I think it’s the same in the US. But I don’t believe you get enough to make a dent. Better than nothing I guess. There was a heritage Craftsman bungalow across the street from me that actually burned down at 430 am this past Saturday , it was under renovation. There had been a man in the ten years I’ve lived here that actually lived there up until he died a couple years ago. He was a hoarder so they had to gut the place down to the studs and restore it from scratch. It’s apparently had four owners in less than two years. A few people in my apartment complex think it was arson / scam.
@P. A. stupid reaction. Whites don’t have problems conceiving. Rich people usually wait until their old to have kids, and some wait too longZ
Yeah, the homeless would be setting indoor fires in garbage cans and burning the place down. Besides, the homeless don’t typically reside in the middle of a cornfield. They prefer the city street life where you can panhandle.
I hope everybody liked this video and I hope it’s a lot better quality. This is the first time I’ve ever posted in true 4K. Kind of a pain to edit but I hope it’s worth it. If you like this house check out the video of the 1881 Victorian House! th-cam.com/video/TMguUxS3I0M/w-d-xo.html
Loved it, but did u get poisin ivy? That house was covered!!!!
It's gorgeous
First, I want to complement your style of recording your video. I love it when an explorer takes the time to give their viewers time to look at the building and it's contents. So, thank you. I love looking at vintage architecture, which it art within itself. However, I do need to correct you on something. The walk at the top of old houses, like this one, is called a 'widows walk'. A widows peak is a natural human hair growth. If you don't know the history of widow walks, look it up, it's a very cool part of vintage architecture. Again, thank you for your lovely videos.
Thank you for the compliments! I always appreciate when people teach me something in the comments. 😘
This is not a widows walk. It looks to be a tower of some kind. Perhaps a watch tower or bell tower. A widows walk would have a platform along the roof. Also called a captains walk. They were also used to access the chimney for cleaning. The further south you go you'll hear stories about the widows walk. When a woman's husband died she would dress in black and walk out the peak, thus the name the widows peak, to let men know she was available now. Where I come from they call it a widows peak and the story of the widow walking it after her husband's funeral still is passed around. We have one home that remains in our town that still has the widows walk. The walk faces the main street and has railing on both sides of it.
@@heatherlonaker909 Is she still up there looking for a husband? ;-)
The room at the top is not a widows walk it has windows that open to release hot air rising . It was a early form of air conditioning! And it worked well too keeping the home cool and comfortable .
@@lightmarker3146 Sorry to disappoint you but your idea of what a widows walk should look like is incorrect. As for ventilating the house, yes, roof windows can be used for ventilation which could also include cupolas. What makes a widows walk different is the addition of some type of fencing, usually ornate wrought iron.
I think you should've checked out the fireplace in the basement. It looked like boards covering the back wall of that.
The back side of that fireplace was the garage. The tunnel went from the house to the bank barn, so I was told. The barn was on the other side of the house. So I don’t know if that was a good place for a tunnel or not.
The house I grew up in here in Ohio was part of the underground railroad. Upstairs in a bedroom there is a bookshelf and when you take out the shelves there's a door hidden on the right side. It was so cool when we found it as kids. It gave us another small room.
Any big trees near by? I work with a group called big trees ohio and would love to document them
Man if I was super wealthy I would make restoring these homes with such great architecture and craftsmanship a personal hobby.
I had always heard it was an Underground Railroad house, but the rumored hiding spot was in a barn that no longer exists on the property. If you’re facing the shuttle barn and the house is on your left, there’s a dirt bank where the hill goes up. Apparently that’s where they used to hide runaway slaves. I’ve been in that house a ton of times, but not since the tree fell in. Really sad to see it decay so far.
i would really love to shoot photography in this house but do not know where it is located and would love to someone to take me to this house and show me around. i love exploring old places and have the up most respect for them and always keep the location to myself so they do not get destroyed by vandals. so molotov if your up for taking me out to shoot some photography of this amazing house i would really appreciate it a lot philip niklas you can contact me at my email philip@ohioexploration.com
i would imagine there were plenty of places to hide on that property, even if there weren`t a secret tunnel or room
@@urbanxplorer50 me too. Wish i had someone i could explore them with. :)
What is it located? I'm in Cincinnati
@@renegade5130 u find out
I was able to explore this in the summer of 2019 with permission of the owner. My brother wanted to metal detect the property so I went along to explore the house. I am not an urban explorer by any means. Just curious since I’ve grew up admiring this place. I found your first video and was shocked and saddened by the condition. Definitely more damage (decay) and graffiti when comparing this video to what I saw in person last year. As for the widow’s peak as you call it, I remember it being a bell tower. The story handed down to me from my mom was that “watchers” stood guard in the tower watching to the west towards the creek. This is where the slave parties would come up state using the rivers and streams to guide them. When the watchers saw the glow of a lantern, they’d pull the bell cord to signal if it was safe for the slave party to come to the house. I was told there was never an actual tunnel. The stream was the tunnel. But within the home was supposedly hidden compartments to hide the slaves if danger approached. I do not know how much of this is true as it was story handed down to me. The building behind the house to me like a smoke house. There is also a well house (or spring house) to the north of the garage. Covered fairly well by foliage. The property is split by house and farm. The house is owned by not the farmer who owns the barn and the land. The farm is still a working farm with livestock still on the property and the land is actively used for agriculture. I noticed a very strong smell of fuel oil in the basement where the two tanks are. I believe they are rusted out and are leaking fuel oil. Unfortunately the house is far to gone to save. When checking property deeds, the last selling price was 1.4 or 1.7 million I think in 2017 but I’m going off of memory.
@@destinyangel7713 Exactly! I wonder what the owner will do with it, just allow it to rot? It could be such a beautiful place.
@@destinyangel7713 I haven’t researched it other than asking someone every once in awhile. I’ll have to reach out to my cousin who is friends with the current owner. But just seeing as it is I think it will continue to deteriorate. I think I read a comment from the filmmaker that the ownership is help up in a trust. Both owner of the house and owner of the farm are big names around here and own a lot of farm land in the area.
@@karenmcabee9619 thanks for all the great history on the house this youtuber didn't bother you give. Until he showed the carved initials I couldn't guess if it was actually as old as even 1908. What's left of the woodwork and cabinets don't look that old. I used to own a historic house in Michigan that was deeded in 1900 but there were initials in the attic dated 1875. The house was built by a cousin of earnest Hemingway. The man was the local lumber barren and surely seemed to put the best in that house! It wasn't a mansion but still huge. Also 3 story like this one but as it should be from that time it was balloon framed(meaning the wall studs run from the foundation up to the roof in 1 piece). The basement was 10+ feet deep with a shabby kitchen for the servants to cook and a tiny manual dumbwaiter to to proper kitchen. If I ever won the lottery I'd get another old house like that,just not in the freezing north, ha ha
Where in Ohio is this house?
@@stratcat4450 the house I was born and raised in Saginaw is like the one you're describing. My dad got it for a few thousand dollars from a friend in the late 70's and it was falling down. He fixed it up himself all throughout my childhood and made it comfortable ❤❤❤❤ these old houses are near and dear to my heart.
Most country homes in those days had separate kitchens because of fires. Even my great grandparents had a separate kitchen from their home. They were born in 1878 and 1880.
That sound interesting same here, hi Michelle how are you doing I hope you’re safe from the crazy covid?
I remember seeing the first video you did of this house, and I'm loving it all over again. I can't imaging what it would cost to operate a house of this size. It would most certainly require at least one full time domestic...a live-in would make the most sense, and there's plenty of room for that. Not a predictable floor plan; lots of nooks and crannies. Talk about a post for storm watching; that cupola is amazing. Thanks for taking the time to point out all the details.
I can't imagine having to pee in the middle of the night and trying to use that bathroom.
the carpet 😫
They used chamber pots in those times and the maid would empty them the next morning.
Terri Butler
Got to remember when it was originally built , there wasn`t indoor Plumbing .
I used to want to own this beautiful house when I was a child. It used to be so gorgeous.
Really. You were a dreamer, how nice.I wish that you come to enough $ money so it would be yours one day. Cheers.😉😂
This house is so badly haunted...
@@2maestra_poetica Would love to hear a story of why.
I lived in that house! I was the one that put the Christmas light in the bell tower.
How long ago did you live there? Why did it become abandoned?
@@eshore389 20 years ago. I’m not sure how many people lived there after us. I’d say not to many. Rent was cheap but a bitch to heat so the owner had trouble keeping renters in it. I think my folks lived there about 8.
It looks like it was a great home! I love old houses but heating is always challenge .
@@derekduffie2428
2119
@@eshore389 People used to seat near the 🔥 fire place to read or do other activities.Later you would go to bed.Day time most folks would be working.
The kitchen was the best heated of all places.Kids could do their homework in it.We're a very different society now days.Too much entertainment after work😃😂.
The tunnel is probably behind the brick wall. --covered it-- save heat
Who owns this grand old ànd is it for sale?
@@rightpathmarketinggroup9637 - so many unexplained abandoned homes
Mother Nature is trying real hard to get her land back the place is just rotting away.
It’s a shame someone gave up on that home. It’s beautiful and perfect.. that widows peak is amazing and so high in the air. It shows you how big the house really is!
SECRET TUNNEEEEEL! SECRET TUNNEEEL
Through the mountain!
Behind the furnace was a knee high space. It was not and open walkway like you showed. It was a space that was easy to fool those who were looking for runaway slaves. You would not hide them in a place you could see you would high them in the back of a closet that had a false wall so to look it was small but it would really be a small space to go into to hide people for the night or day until the night came so they would not be seen moving during the light of day. There are several houses that have spaces and they do not even know it because they do not see a big tunnel in the basement. That tower would have been used at night to shine a light or give a lighted signal to say ok, the boat is at the pickup point. So the slaves would move to the next spot on the map. Quilts were hung on the line to give as clues also. Certain blocks or designs were used to tell slaves it was ok to stop for food or for a rest or how much farther until the next stop or even a map in clues. Some were even warnings to go a different way because men were there looking for them. The underground railroad was in a way like the dark wb today. But so much more complex then people ever imagined for that time period. They were very clever but that tower up high was a very very important key to it for sure. It was most likely call the widow seat to tell the men looking for the slaves that the wife loves to sit up there at night to be closest to heaven to speak to her husband who has died. To be as high as the stars and shine so she can be seen by him...... but in honesty it is telling slaves to go the correct way to be free. Look for crawl spaces or fake walls or hidden spaces. Then you find what is used for underground railroad.
What a fantastic piece of history! Just gorgeous back in its day I'm sure! I've been watching urban exploration videos for a long time and this house and your filming and narration are the best, or darn close to the best I've ever seen! Just subscribed! Thanks for the historical tour!
Whoever designed this beautiful piece of architecture...Really was very gifted.
Very small kitchen for such a huge house! Should have put that piece of wood back over the well! Was probably put there to keep someone from falling into it! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
When I was last to the place that I grew up that I saw that my brother demolished so many of the buildings that I used to play in on my grandparents place, great aunt and neighbor's so sad that he could do what he did all because it was all left to a person who did not appreciate anything..
Except for valuables sold off from the old house & cash.
My grandpa had a farm not too far from here. I don't know if you'll ever see this, but the outside kitchen, is called a summer kitchen. It's where they do a lot of canning and stuff. My grandpa's farm didn't have a basement but they Summer kitchen had a cellar a dirt cellar. This is where they would store their canned goods in the dark. And a lot of times they would dry certain herbs up In The Summer kitchen as well period once they would pick in the garden, and they would go to The Summer kitchen to clean up the fruits and vegetables and whatnot. This video makes me homesick! Hoping to get a trip some fall back home. Just as the combines are working the fields would be great. I raised my kids in the middle of a cornfield. But now home is a thousand miles away. I've been gone for 15 years. I love to go back with you explorers to these old places period And yes they're probably is an underground railroad. The road that I lived on, I won't leave the name of it here was a road that stretched all the way to Indiana. It had many houses that had thick walls you can pull the walls out the shelves out of the walls and get between the walls and hide period This is where they would hide the slaves sometimes. Blessings. Angie
Where is the house
This is so relaxing to watch. It makes me feel like I'm just wandering around and exploring the place with friends. Thanks for posting. :)
I wish I had the money to buy one of these houses and restore them. Not because it would be a good investment (it wouldn’t). But to bring back the history, we are losing so rapidly as thousands of these houses disappear every year...
That house has so many windows. It felt like it had a great feel to it. I can only imagine what a wonderful home it once was.
Amazing explore. You were brave to climb the steps to the widows peak.....it was worth the view!! Would love to see pictures of this house in its day.
What was the widow's peak used for?
@@faithingod9554 i thought...and I could be wrong...in the past the wives of deceased mariners would look out of the widows peak in hopes of seeing their husband's return.
Actually called a widow's walk, widow's peak is a type of hairline. :)
Its a shame to see the decay in this old house. I own an 1887 Queen Anne Victorian and I love this old architecture.
Wish we could see more of the front structure of the houses thathave so much foliage around it. This was quite a place in its day!
Same here but even in winter it still pretty well covered up from all the brush.
Paint can still in window. Lol My life- never getting my projects completed. :)
Such a beautiful house. I will never understand how these places are left to rot! The house I lived in 2 years ago for 8 years was built in 1813. It had the same design of swirls on the wood on this staircase 5:08
I hope you covered that well back. It would be awful if kids ran through there and fell down in it!
The cupola is NOT a "widow's peak". The widow's peak is the triangular point of hair on a balding forehead. You are confusing with a "widow's watch or walk" frequently built on sea coastal houses. Those in the Midwest and other areas of the country were copying the Italian architecture style of the 19th Century. Many had central towers of cupolas on the roof.
How do you get permission to go in there? I've been there a thousand times but never during the day and I'm always sketched out about getting caught
So glad you went back. Sometimes we wonder what became of a property. This is one of my favorites. I wish I had the money to restore it back to its original state. I would love to had seen it in all its glory. Thanks for your time.
Fun fact me and my friends went there. It was absolutely beautiful. We called it
'The Bell House'
Was there ever another house nearby? In SE Ohio we have a preserved mansion and there was a tunnel in the basement that connected to an adjacent property. The historical society told me it was most likely used as part of the underground railroad
Do you know where this house is?
Do you mean the one in wellston? Near the fairgrounds?
The bricks behind the green furnace are bowing. They might be removable to allow access to the tunnel and then replaced to hide the entrance.
I agree!
Any chance you’d be willing to draw up a rough floor plan?
I’ll bet that place was fabulous back in the day. Love seeing homes with transom windows, servant stairs, floor to ceiling windows, widows peak, and second story porches. 👍❤️😊
WOW! This plantation had to be spectacular in its heyday! If only those walls could tell us stories of the people from back then. Makes me so sad to see it falling into ruins...
A quality home, rooms have beautiful proportions ♥️
The reason there are fireplaces in almost every room is because the insulation wasn’t really there. No built in heat back in that day. That’s how they kept warm
Not just that, it was substantially more efficient to heat rooms individually and open the doors between them and let the heat fill in. The carpenters back then had an amazing grasp on shit.
Would love to have the opportunity to restore this.
I enjoyed this video very much. I'm from Ohio which is why it caught my attention. I'm surprised you weren't afraid to go up in the widow's peak with the roof and beams and everything deteriorated so badly but we we treated to a magnificent view.
Why wouldn't someone have wanted to salvage that house? I know it's a ton of work but anything is possible. I'm sure its mostly a sound structure, and foundation.
Oh there are plenty of people that want to salvage the house including the historical society but for an unknown reason I have heard no plans to try to save it. Because it’s on the historic registry it would cost tractor trailer load of money to make livable. It is very rural unrealistically the financial investment it’s not worth it but for the sake of history it would be nice if the owner would.
There are hundreds of homes just like this one across rural ohio and other areas that are just rotting away as the land it sits on is still farmed and worth hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars depending on the acerage.
@@OnceOccupied if I ever win the Powerball I'll make it happen.
@@MC-xj9ou I got one-so I am doing my part.
It is so very sad to see history rotting away.
The most important part that I omitted from my post below was that Elephant Head was a place the slaves could rest, cook something, clean water everywhere due to those small streams. I am so proud to know my ancestors were good people. I have no idea how many slaves went through there but I'm betting a lot! So it really, really bites my butt to have anyone accuse me of being a racist.
You are correct, many White folks contributed greatly to the rescue, protection and relocation of Blacks to safer places. There are some words that are carelessly thrown around which indeed insult others! Continue to tell your family's story, take pictures for documentation and ensure that the younger members of your family know this as well!
The Quakers were important in the underground railroad and took many risks helping escaping slaves .
You are so right. I'm glad someone said it.
Lots of that in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana.
This is my family’s home. My mom and cousins grew up here! My uncle Leonard’s name is actually in the house.
Would you or a Relative happen to have any pics from back then?
Really? Any information on it?
Shouldn’t your name be Filtzwater?
Fitzwater
I can't imagine how beautiful this home was in it's prime. The woodwork!
I wish I had money and then the opportunity to buy this house and put it back to its original and then do tours or a bed-and-breakfast this would be a great place
Should have checked the back panel of the fireplace. I've seen many built thisway.
I love this house. I bet it was absolutely beautiful back in the day. Awesome video!!!!
So sad that no one is interested in restoring this beautiful old home especially given it’s historical significance.
I am
Me too I feel so sorry about this beautiful home been wasted feeling like purchasing it though, good morning Marina how are you doing with your family I hope you’re safe from the virus?
Beautiful. Had a house built in 1720. Who owns this now
I just went by this house a few weeks ago and the widows walk is gone. :( it’s so sad to see such a once beautiful home fall apart. I’ve heard the rumors about the Underground Railroad going through this area and while it might have, it’s doubtful they would need to hide the slaves in tunnels or hidden rooms this far north and out of confederate control. I could be wrong though!
So sad that such a historical piece of Ohio's history has just been left to rot. The town that I live in has several houses that were apart of the underground railroad. They are apart of the historical society though and very well maintained
Which historical society is that
So wheres the tunnel? Folks tipped you off that its behind the furnace. It's obvious the bricks behind the furnace are from two different times. Brick and mortar around the top and sides are much older than the brick in the middle with brighter colors and brighter mortar leading me to believe that's a space that has been filled in with more modern brick to cover up what may be access to a tunnel.
Simply beautiful. I love the way you film. It's like being there. Thank you
I watch many urban explorations, but just today I found your site! And you are now my favourite. I love how you also talked about the architecture, and show much of the structure. Please, keep it up 😉👍
While I enjoy all of your videos, this place was absolutely spectacular.
What a beautiful old home she once was. Thank you for the tour and stay safe out there my friend
I appreciate it!
Maybe it was a male house.
If there was a tunnel, chances are it was walled in . Love the architecture of this house and I imagine the staircase was beautiful.
They they don’t build houses like they used to. Instead of quality all they want is quantity now
It breaks my heart to see how vandalized this beauty is.
What a beautiful home.i really like the porch,could just imagine having my coffee in the mornings setting out there.It was really nice at one time.👍💟💗
Exactly! That second floor porch was the place to chill back in the day
The moral of the story here is: Don't let your roof leak!
This is the single greatest recommendation for everyone!
@@OnceOccupied Absolutely! I'd much rather URBEX a building that's intact and not ravaged by weather.
When I was younger my Grandpa told me that A Demon lived in this house CREEPY AS HELL!!!!!
I saw the tunnel. You walked right by it at knee height BEHIND THE FURNACE.
These old homes are magnificent! So sad to see them rot. I wish I could have the means to have found them & restored each & every one back to it's original glory! Thanks for sharing the videos so I could visit & connect with these old treasures 👍
The condition of this house makes my heart so sad 💔 I wish somebody could restore
@17:28 did anyone else notice that large knife at the bottom of the basement stairs????
I hope this house gets saved and restored
It's always such a shame seeing magnificent homes end up like this. It's a travesty. Who is farming that land?
You kinda made it sound like youd found the tunnel and what was in it, obviously not, was somewhat disappointed, cos that was why l watched.
Th o se were cam shafts for machinery, fueled by coal or wood, but the drive belts are gone. If you visit Henry Ford greenfield museums you will see how it works. Don't know what the owner were processing, maybe an early water pump for the family.
Restoration is of course outrageously expensive, but we in the US tend to see this as "not worth the effort". For a different perspective on restoration check the videos from the UK where they taking old palatial çastles and such in a whole lot worse shape and restoring them. They are also in many cases over 300 years old. It just depends on the value of preserving history. I would like to know some of the background here on this place. That woodwork is something else! Thanks for the video.
La mirada del balcón y el mirador de la azotea tienen una visión panorámica espectacular!
How could this just be left to decay this way? It’s a spectacular property and it’s possibly connected to the Underground Railroad? I hate to see this left to ruin
I’ve been in this house before. I’m sure it was beautiful back in the day. Fireplaces are amazing. Can’t wait to go back.
It really is! I could go back once a year and it would never get old. The basement fireplace was huge too.
Once Occupied I loved the staircase. Beautiful woodwork. Unreal how well it has held up.
Where is it?
Every time I see one of these videos I can't understand why they are abandoned? Why weren't they sold? Can they be bought and restored ? What a waste
That is a really dope old house. Would love to have seen it back in its glory days. Thanks for the awesome video 😃👍
when the roof leaks window and doors the building can be calculated on a rot scale , if the owner will cover the roof holes with tarps board up the windows and doors the building will last longer until rehabbed!
13:22 anyone else notice that almost looks like a miniature door
Now I'm gonna most likely jump in a rabbit home but my folks' previous house (I was in like 3rd grade so I don't quite remember its architecture scientifically lol) was something of around 200+ years old idk if anyone knows the exact date or if i just remember vague info but I think I remember seeing something very similar...actually I know there was and as far as I remember I got no answer lol. This house had a crazy tight-walled and tightly-circled spiral case up the the 2nd floor and the steepest 4 maybe 5 steps down to the creepy basement
I had to go back and look. There is trim around a hole in the wall that was like 2 feet tall with what looks like brick inside the hole. It looks to be under the stairs that went up to the attic area. Another commenter said here in the comments that there is a secret stair case inside the home that the person who videoed the home missed. I wonder if this is the secret stair case they were referring to. Not sure if it was a secret tunnel or not but it would be cool if they ever toured the house again that they show this area. I know I don't have a section of trim roughly 2 feet high with a center in my house. Looks odd.
Almost looked like Edward scissors hands room on 3rd floor. For those that don't know Google (Avon lady meets Edward scissors hands). Pretty freaking wild to see if it's your first time seeing it.😉
Thanks for letting us adventure with you! Id love to be able to follow you around. My heart would be jumping for joy! Y'all take us places we would never see. I'm on your heels buddy, turning every corner with you. Merry Christmas 🎄!
Check that fire place in the basement