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Punchy
   
location:
NC
 |  | Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
< on 2/5/2013 1:55 PM >
|  | | | There's a huge family retreat that I've been visiting for a couple years. I've watched it slowly (and sometimes rapidly) fall apart due to the elements, vandalism, and arson. It's currently owned by the US government, and I'm pretty sure that the government has absolutely no interest in preserving it and is following a plan of demolition by vandalism and neglect.
The property is fenced in, but the gates are never locked. There are "No Trespassing" signs, but they're not enforced and no one seems to pay any attention to them. I've run into lots of people out there, including hunters, fishermen, kayakers, ghosthunters, metal detectorists, families on picnics, and people fighting Airsoft battles.
Arson seems to occur on a somewhat regular basis. Every time I've gone, there's been at least one more fire, sometimes more. This building was the train station, near one of the entrances to the compound, where guests were dropped off before being taken to the lodge. I shot this about a year ago.
1.
On a recent visit, this is all that was left.
2.
This was once one of three stables on the property.
3.
Now it looks like this.
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The largest building there, an 11,000 square foot guest house, burned down about five years ago. All that's left of that structure is a chimney and a wing that contained an indoor pool.
5.
The main lodge is still somewhat intact, although at this point it's pretty much just a shell.
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7.
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The pantry in the lodge has been set on fire before, but thankfully that fire didn't spread very far.
9.
Two bathrooms on the top floor of the lodge are decorated with a couple dozen tiny murals painted in the '30s. Even in the relatively short time that I've been visiting, I've seen the paint fade and flake off the wall. Less than a year ago:
10.
Now:
11.
Last spring:
12.
Now:
13.
And this one's no longer there. The paint has just fallen off the wall.
14.
There are lots of other homes, outbuildings, and structures. This, another one of the stables, is one of my favorites.
15.
This is the upstairs living quarters in the carriage house.
16.
Nearly all of the buildings have been heavily vandalized, however: toilets and tubs smashed, walls bashed down to the studs, windows knocked out.
17.
18.
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On one of my earlier visits, this was damn near the only toilet that was still in one piece, but it didn't survive much longer. The last time I was there it was a pile of rubble.
20.
I'm really sorry to see the current state of this place, and at the rate things are going, I kind of doubt that it's going to be around for much longer. And I get the impression that that would be just fine with the current owners.
More on Flickr
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sara'mer
  
location:
WNC
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 1 on 2/5/2013 2:49 PM >
| | | | Awesome set! Love the before/after pictures, but it's sad to see it go like that. Especially the murals, though at least that's a more natural decline.
they call me the hyacinth girl |
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Amishdelight
location:
"Deliverance Georgia"
Gender: Male
Be Genuine , S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 2 on 2/5/2013 7:46 PM >
| | | | What an awesome little place this must have been in it's prime! Great set, neat place, and I agree that it's sad the place has been left to die a slow and painful death.
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AsylumGhost
Gender: Male
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 3 on 2/6/2013 2:57 PM >
| | | | this place looks like it would have been a great escape in its day
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Punchy
location:
NC
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 4 on 2/6/2013 6:18 PM >
| | | | Posted by Amishdelight
What an awesome little place this must have been in it's prime! Great set, neat place, and I agree that it's sad the place has been left to die a slow and painful death.
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Posted by AsylumGhost
this place looks like it would have been a great escape in its day
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Thanks. This was quite the place--thousands of acres, two golf courses, a lake, large hunting grounds--and kind of in the middle of nowhere. Lots of people who lived nearby didn't even know it was there.
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Punchy
location:
NC
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 5 on 2/6/2013 6:21 PM >
| | | | Posted by Hotwired Heart
Awesome set! Love the before/after pictures, but it's sad to see it go like that. Especially the murals, though at least that's a more natural decline.
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Thanks! Yeah, the little murals just kill me. I wish they could be saved somehow. This one, which is still in pretty good shape, is my favorite.
Untitled by Punchomatic, on Flickr
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amy atomic
 
location:
Baltimore
Gender: Female
top banana of the baltimore bunch.
| |  | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 6 on 2/7/2013 12:38 AM >
| | | | Nice! This looks like a fun little place to explore; reminds me of another campground up north.
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Punchy
location:
NC
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 7 on 2/7/2013 4:30 PM >
| | | | Posted by amy atomic
Nice! This looks like a fun little place to explore; reminds me of another campground up north.
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Thanks, Amy!
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Hootie
location:
VA
Gender: Female
One playground after another...
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 8 on 2/8/2013 6:56 PM >
| | | | I'm glad to see the "before" shots of the stable and the train depot. The Depot is nothing like what I had envisioned; I guess the tall chimney that remains had me thinking it would have been tall and square. Same with the stable, I imagined it in red, like the other one.
http://www.flickr....ral-urban-natural/
I don't play well with chiggers and snakes. |
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vividdecay
location:
Baltimore
Gender: Male
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 9 on 2/8/2013 7:48 PM >
| | | | Wow. Awesome set!
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Punchy
location:
NC
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 11 on 2/12/2013 12:59 AM >
| | | | Posted by Hootie
I'm glad to see the "before" shots of the stable and the train depot. The Depot is nothing like what I had envisioned; I guess the tall chimney that remains had me thinking it would have been tall and square. Same with the stable, I imagined it in red, like the other one.
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Yeah, the burned down stable was very similar to the other stable that still stands over on the other side of the main road, and nothing at all like the red barn.
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Punchy
location:
NC
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 12 on 2/12/2013 1:00 AM >
| | | | Posted by vividdecay
Wow. Awesome set!
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Thanks! Appreciate it!
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Punchy
location:
NC
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 13 on 2/12/2013 1:04 AM >
| | | |
Wow, thanks for the link. Very similar. Pretty much the same time period, although this place was owned by just one family, rather than a group of them. Elkmont looks really cool. I would've loved to have seen the Wonderland Hotel before it collapsed.
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jeepdave
 
location:
Anderson, SC
Gender: Male
It's also a gun.
| | Re: Demolition by Vandalism and Neglect
<Reply # 14 on 2/12/2013 2:20 AM >
| | | | Posted by Punchy
Wow, thanks for the link. Very similar. Pretty much the same time period, although this place was owned by just one family, rather than a group of them. Elkmont looks really cool. I would've loved to have seen the Wonderland Hotel before it collapsed.
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Been a couple of years since I have been there but one wing of the wonderland was still standing. You could go on the second and first floor. Some of the best gems are off the beaten path. Full of personal effects, furniture, journals, and history.
Ezekiel 25:17 |
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