Ontario Abandoned Places will be rebranded as Ominous Abandoned Places

John Wright House

Demolished House in East Gwillimbury, Ontario, Canada

Jul 28 2017

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Recent status Demolished
Location # 14861

Called the John Wright House by the township, built 1885 - probably by his son, John Jr. The Wright family held onto and farmed the entirety of this property (lot 23 and some lot of 24) until 1934. The property eventually left Wright hands for good in 1953, when the remainder that hadn't been subdivided was sold to Robert and Evelyn Lewis. The Lewis' got out in 1970.

Absolutely beautiful house - in fact, this may be the sexiest little piece of old Ontario architecture I've ever found abandoned. Many original features of the house are still (mostly) intact - old sash windows, built-in wood stove oven, stained glass, original floorboards, exposed plumbing, and that oh-so-fancy bargeboard!

Seems as though it was probably owned/rented by a young-ish family before being abandoned. There was still some kids toys and alike near the pool, but the biggest tell was the height markers on the wall upstairs that conveniently marked the ages of everyone lol. "Mom: 26, Dad: 27, Georgia: 4". The date is screwy, but it's either 2004 or 2014. The house was lived in atleast until 2014, so it's possible it was the latter. We've got the same markers in my house from when me and my brother were growing up. It was pretty nostalgic feeling.

Some things to watch out for... I did not make it into the attic (that ladder is all sorts of broken), but I was able to get my camera up to take pictures and it didn't appear there was much. Just something to consider for the next person that breaks their back trying to climb the thing.The pool is FUBAR. I've never seen such a demented pool. The cement around it is crumbling into the ground so be careful where you step.

I was here in November of last year and it was completely open. Parking at the cemetery and walking in from the road worked perfectly. You get cover from the bush pretty quick. Assuming it's still unboarded this is a super easy explore and totallllly worth the 10 minutes it takes.

I put this FM2 because there was quite a few antiques still lying around. Nothing too fancy, but figure its better be safe than sorry.

Comments

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6 years ago

Demolished as of July 1.

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7 years ago

that's a little sketchy. I've seen some trucks parked in the parking lot-ish thing beside the house, but never seen anyone there. Is it just me or does it seem like that fallen tree is actually still alive? It certainly looks more filled in from your pictures than from mine.

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7 years ago

While I was in the house, a guy in a red pickup truck came in and drove around the property.

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7 years ago

I've always wondered about this place, but never stopped to check it out. Great find.

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7 years ago

Cool location, I'll have to add it to the list!