sneaking into abandoned mid century homes

sneaking into abandoned mid century homes

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Today I am heading out with Rochelle to explore  some retro abandoned homes this is the coolest   kitchen i think i've ever seen someone really made  these choices and all seriousness was like yes   yeah oh it does what why are they still  paying the power bill for this house   and thanks so much to wafer for  sponsoring a portion of this video   okay we are in the car i'm with Rochelle and we're  gonna go and check out some houses today i'm so   excited hold on hold on we need a story time hi my  name is becky and i absolutely love retro interior   design spanning all the way back from the Usonian  homes of the 1930s to the mid-century architecture   of the 1950s to the space age concept designs  of the 1970s anything just like wild out there   i can't believe we were making spaces like that  and we don't anymore if it fits in that category i   could gush about this all day i love it there are  some amazing home tours of these homes that still   exist in their original state on youtube and you  bet i have seen them our story starts a couple of   years ago when i stumbled on one of these home  tours this house is unlike anything you have   ever seen before it is just every inch of it  is wild and amazing and when i first saw it   didn't pay too much attention to where it was  assumed it was likely in the states and i would   never be able to see it in real life fast forward  a few years later i am now active on tick tock and   i see a tick tock of this exact same house  come up on my for you page and like once you   see this house you don't forget this house this  was very clearly the same house so i think huh   who is this guy touring these homes where does  he live how does he have access to these homes   so i shoot him a message out of the blue like  honestly not really hoping for a response well   hoping but not expecting i get a response not only  are these homes within my own country of canada   they are within driving distance and he can  take me to see them next week in real life so that brings us today i am heading out  with rochelle to meet ethan irl to explore   some retro abandoned homes i didn't think that  sentence would be coming out of my mouth when   i saw that video two years ago wow you are in  for a treat i really don't know what to expect   at all like i've i've seen some of these in  video but i feel like seeing it in real life   is just going to be like i don't know so  much crazier so see you when we get there okay we're driving through  a very nice neighborhood what's that TikTok it's like the woman  was speechless right now and we're just   saying like i can't believe there's like an  empty abandoned house in the middle of all   this like you would never know i'm worried  this video is going to be uninteresting now   because i think i will actually be speechless  the whole time i'm just going to be like okay all right it's time to meet ethan and hear  about our first home spoiler we are going to more   than one today so this house was custom built  in 1967 and no one's currently living in it and   it's pretty untouched yep for the most part cool  okay i'm excited to see let's go watch your step walking into this house was just the most amount  of i don't know where to look because every wall   is something amazing wallpaper on  wallpaper on a wallpaper oh my god   i kind of had ethan just choose where we went  because if i had to decide i would probably   break down with like the overwhelming amount  of options in this home to go see so we started   in the kitchen so this kitchen is actually  probably the newest thing in this home i think it   was redone in the 80s 80s at this point is still  pretty retro so i was just as stoked to see this   room but don't worry it's gonna get you more retro  this is the coolest kitchen i think i've ever seen   i think i know what that is because i saw a  video about one of these it's it's the base   of a blender right it is yes built into the  countertop so you put your like blender on   that make a smoothie yeah the ceiling is meant  to match the shape of the counter and the light   and the light matches and the stove top is like  in here too right how is that even operated then   i thought that'd be like a fake drawer so that  there would be parts under there it's a shine on   these cabinets everything is thought through and  like built in everything and like this is what i   aspire to do one day is like have a house this  thought out but i also don't know like how you   actually think about everything ahead of time one  of my biggest takeaways from all the homes we're   going to see today is built-ins everything  was built into the walls as part of the home   to function with the home kind of forever and  it's so different than what we're seeing today   where it's you have four blank walls and you  just fill it with whatever furniture you want   which lends itself to a temporary mindset and we  can switch it up every few months which i know   i'm guilty of but it's not something i want to  aspire to be i want to have a home that's well   thought out and designed once and it stays that  way and i think built-ins kind of force you to   do that because you can't really move them when  it's part of the wall also i want this video to   be like a conversational dialogue with you guys  so like any thoughts on any of the stuff we're   seeing today and talking about let me know in  the comments below i would love to just chat   about this more with you also by the way we have  started a the sorry girls discord so if you'd   like to continue this conversation on there more  where i'm even more active and we can get even   more nerdier about these things check it out link  is in the description okay i just found something no it can't be this easy that is just wild that's incredible what kind of  blended cocktails did they have back in the 50s   this feels like like a margarita house yeah you  got a pool right there the huge party space out   there so cool so cool i am having one of these in  my house one day i've said it here that was all are you seeing this behind you michelle oh my  gosh this room was added in 1975 so the house was   here before it ended right here yeah and then  they decided that's just not enough space   this room that we are heading into is the literal  fiesta resistance of this entire home it is   a great room in like the most simplest of  terms this room is just everything and i i   would have i would die to see this in its prime  unfortunately it had to come to a little bit of   vandalism which breaks my heart like you have no  idea but we'll just try and look around that as we   appreciate the room is this these are speakers yes  those are built-in speakers on each side i believe   they open up like wait what this is like probably  speaker mesh so that your speaker was there and   it would come through and it would sound good  out here right right built-ins i'm telling you   built-ins and this is like two windows meeting  on a corner like i don't even know how you would   do that these days so then what's back what do  you think this was bar it looks like yeah you   got the sink and look at this glass smoked  glass smoked copper glass now do you know   we were wondering this house when it was first  built do you know like what it'd be worth   then about 40 000 bucks it sold recently in  october for ugly 4.25 million just for land   just for the like the property just to tear this  down 4.2 is nuts but also when you know what like   the toronto housing market's like exactly it's  actually not that nuts like when you think of this   like we were saying how you can't even get like a  tear down nothing like a million dollars anymore   so like only four times more than for that  yeah all of this right and then yeah so this   is what they're gonna be building here i  believe yeah oh i hate it there you go it's   the house across the street and this is just so  special right this is an absolute tragedy just   seeing the proposed plans for what this house is  going to be when they tear down the original one   now i can't comment on how they're going to  style it on the inside because i don't know   that yet but just based off what the outside looks  it is like fully devoid of all the character that   this one currently has i really think that this  home should be registered as like a heritage   home and not allowed to be torn down and should be  restored to what it originally was because i just   the fact that we can never get these  homes back again like the 60s is not   happening again we have these homes once and then  never again i just cannot comprehend that it will   be demolished i don't know i don't know what we  can do about it i don't have four million dollars holy from what i understand and i've researched  this is a very expensive coach just saying i'm   surprised this is still here of course it's  probably a thousand pounds but still if you   are the owner of this house please please get  in touch before you demolish this because i   would love if it's not me that these things go  to that they go to somebody because taking all   of the character and putting it in the landfill  i cannot my contact info is in the description oh my god oh it does what why are they  still paying the power bill for this house   are you seeing this glass this is like  smoked mar i don't even know what what   this is it's like smoked marble mirror with oh  and the fan is coming now lights in the wall   this like silver sink and like wallpaper  that matches the texture of the mirror   because of course all of a sudden our office  bathroom is like underwhelming that's how we   get the most there but not taking her haircut i  just can't i can't get over this watch yourself   and somehow the wallpaper choices work like  every room is different but it doesn't clash i'm gonna not look so that we can  experience each room at a time yeah we broke rochelle like this almost feels like a set like i can't  believe this was really stuck someone really made   these choices and all seriousness and was like  yes yeah this is what i want i would say choices   if i didn't love these choices so much would the  thought to wallpaper the floor and the ceiling   and also shag the carpet ever occur to me no but  i'm so glad it occurred to the original designer   here as someone who's installed wallpaper before i  have mad respect for this because to do it on the   ceiling is probably that's so not easy and it's  lasted too right 55 years speechless hopefully i   don't even know what to say i'm just taking it all  in like i just it's kind of everything yeah wow   i love the built-ins yeah and the couch almost  matches the curtains right just blue yellow carpet   you really have to be confident in your choices  here because this is not something you're not   ripping up this carpet every year when you decide  you don't like it like this is pretty permanent   yeah oh my god for this one they said okay we're  gonna keep it safe we're gonna keep the pattern   off the wall and put it on the floor wow this is  like someone's built-in closet but it looks like   french doors everything i thought  i knew about built-in closets is   it's wrong what do you mean you don't  have curtains in your building yeah   what does it mean you don't have like actual like  window pane coverings in your closets all right   down here we go so the main room might have been  the grandest room in this house but i think this   room in the basement is gonna take the cake  on the most retro 70s choices in a room wow what right that's just so much more work  for you and like for what like it looks sick   but like it looks like it almost moves  like a sliding door or something but yeah   there's like six of me right now and this oh  i love it i mean this is like a showstopper   do you think there was more of it at one point  like it almost feels like it could go and i think   well because over on the carpet here there's  marks where they're looks like there's yeah   if you have the second half of this couch hit me up i want it i want to  wonder what this room has seen so cool and like that carpet is  the exact red and blue of the couch   wow the wallpaper which matches the tile  scratches the little shower in there it's a bit creepy rolls of wallpaper really  like all the extra wallpapers in there yeah i want to find the kids bedroom one yeah like i hate to say it but i'm surprised  it's still here like that's just so cool so have   you ever been in one of these houses and someone  showed up many times unfortunately yeah it's not   a good time so like who would it be was it like  sometimes the owners sometimes like the people who   watch over like the maintenance people sometimes  even a neighbor like what are you doing in here   and what happens they just tell you to leave  usually yeah there's been times unfortunately   where police have got involved it ended well i  mean after we explain what we're doing and stuff   and they see we have cameras and you know even  let us go but i can only imagine worth it so we've   seen this first house it's obviously incredible  and there are still more homes that we're going   to see today but i want to learn a little bit  more about ethan personally and like how he's   able to show me all of these homes so let's head  outside and get some answers to those questions okay i want to know how did  you get into this abandoned   house exploration so hold on hold on before he  answers that question because it's a good one   let me give a quick shout out to wayfair i'm sure  you all know wayfair as the site where you can get   great home products to fit your personal style but  i bet you didn't know that they actually have some   really great shows over on their youtube channel  in specific one show i want to recommend to you   guys is a style is born if you are enjoying this  video specifically please consider giving us a   subscribe but also that means i think you will  really like this show this show is hosted by   arrow bessette who i personally just love in the  diy at home decor space she breaks down common   design styles that you probably are aware of  but you might not know much about the history of   in the mid-century modern episode she breaks down  where the style came from and explains who some   of the design pioneers were in the space do you  know how the war and the race to space were both   major influences on the plastic eames chair  sold in every design store to this day well   if not you can find out by watching this episode  go check out the full episode of a style isborn   and subscribe to the wayfarer channel so you can  stay up to date on all of their great content   i've included a link to it in the description okay  let's get back to that answer one day on the way   home from school me and my friends decided to go  check it out and ever since then i've just been   so into it i just i love the architecture just  the thrill of i guess being somewhere you're not   supposed to be and how many homes you think you've  been in since hundreds if not a thousand what yeah   i well first of all i just can't believe  that there's that many empty houses   when we're kind of in a housing shortage right i  get that a lot yeah do you have a favorite home   out of all the homes you've seen i do actually  that one we passed the white one very very 1980s   kind of reminds me of like miami vice type vibe oh  yeah the glass block windows i love that 80s vibe   i mean i got the 80s jacket you know so that's  right and you said something about drake used to   live in a really retro home and greeted it all  or something it was a mid-century modern late   50s like the flat roof with the floor-to-ceiling  windows the the sunken like living room like the   conversation pit oh my god you're speaking my  language right it was amazing they completely   bulldozed it in 2016 and rebuilt what's there  now i'm now boycotting all of drake's music   did you get a chance to see that house before  i did wow okay so there's another one we can   go check out is it close should we  go it is yep take a look let's go so now we're moving on to the second  house that we're gonna see today and   this is the oldest by far of the three  that we are seeing it was built in 1957   and was lived in up until about 2016  when the owner unfortunately passed away   so is it up for sale do you know where  it is no it's just sitting just sitting   yeah okay we started in the basement is that  where we are we are in the basement yeah okay   yellow sink yellow toilet oh my god that shower  is the most claustrophobic thing i've ever seen yeah that's cool and the fluted glass so nice this  is like a lot though okay you stay here rochelle   so you have to go all the way around to get to  the flat i've got the cool pattern on the uh   oh oh my god yes it's like something you'd see it  like a diner yeah like this is what they do when   you're trying to buy like oh retro wallpaper  now wayfair it's this pattern but this is like   the real deal original yeah like just  like like the font of these old things   like the way that it's designed it's crazy that  this is like the original you know like that's so   retro but at the time that was like you know the  most modern thing you could get probably right whoa yeah what is going on here is this like this  like carpeting yeah i know is it even or is it   just a packed work of like bath mats but the fact  that like each piece has a trim makes it seem like   oh yeah they were individually bought oh lots of mail what lots of junk mail   doesn't matter how old your house is you can  always count on mcdonald's to send you coupons oh yeah this is awesome yeah i love the wood  walls so much right it's just something you   can't quite get with paint yeah this fireplace  is great it's wild that they have fireplaces like   without even a real door on it and then carpet  like with this past safety standards these days   no i don't think so oh and there's lights under  there too that would be cool to see at night like   we can see it in the daytime i bet the first person to invent the pocket  door thought they were really onto something   i'll put the door in the wall so this is definitely older  than the first kitchen we saw   is this a sideways oven door have you ever seen  this book i have not it's like a giant microwave what do you call this kind of countertop it's  uh um formica the word is formica and it is   the earliest version of what we now know as  like a laminate countertop super popular in   the 70s super cool to see it irl what what is  this they look like the buttons on like an old   what's the thing when you you picked the song  off with jukebox yeah clearly my brain was just   overwhelmed by the amount of coolness i was taking  in because of course i know what a jukebox is but   you have to forgive me if you  can't tell i was so excited   i think it's obvious i'm surprised to see  a dishwasher actually that must have been   like height of luxury at this time like you do  not have to hand wash your dishes absolutely oh and it goes into another  bathroom so this is like your little   vanity before you're really in the bathroom   yeah the wallpaper in the shower is  a full choice seeing why it's peeling oh no way there's a hole in the floor which  what likely goes to the laundry room yeah   i was actually trying to figure out a way  to like do that in my own house because   our bedroom is like two floors up from the laundry  room and it's such a trek to hike it down and i   was like is there a way i can connect with the  floor somehow to like make a little pipe because   it would make my life so much easier why the  laundry chute is now not standard in every home   i don't understand maybe it's impractical to  install but like that's the most genius thing   that someone came up with and the fact that we're  not using this invention which is just so smart   i don't know i don't know i'm  installing one in my next home oh my god no way this is  like ventilation i guess yeah   you've never seen that before have you seen  that i guess it's because these don't open   exactly right i can't imagine  that's good in the winter at all now we're on to the third and last  house we are seeing today this one   was built in 1971 and was lived in up  until 2019 which is fairly recent but   unfortunately it is set to be demolished and  likely replaced with something much bigger wow wow these beams are just like the pinnacle  of mid-century so do you think this was ever   outside the house just the brick makes  me feel like right but i don't know it   could have been like a sun room  maybe the tall ceilings are just oh wow so what even would this be then it's  like a little butler's kitchen yeah sometimes   yeah i guess so the window is so high up are so  nice in here like so light that comes in these are   called claire story windows they're small windows  placed at the top of rooms designed to just   bring in light without affecting privacy or taking  up wall space again another design element seen   in old homes that i just don't know why we're  not using more of to this day because it's so   the genius trash compactor what is that trash  masher so i looked into this more because i was   just so curious about the function of the trash  masher in the 1970s home so to buy one back in   that day would have cost you about 200 and 200 in  today's prices is about 1500 so this is definitely   or was definitely a luxury item back then we  don't really see them anymore and i think the   reason it's actually a good reason is they have  phased out because people are just producing   less trash and more is going into recycling and  composting whereas back in the day trash was your   only option so you wanted to mash your trash very  cool to see it in the wild though i like that like   in the last place there's general electric here  there's whirlpools brands have been around wow   are you kidding imagine just like being here in  the winter like how cozy have a nice big fire   this is like the lighting these are clicks yeah like it looks like a giant flush mount yeah i take back everything i said   oh look at this doorway this is the  original arch people are doing arches now   this is they did it first typical circle on the  ceiling this is like something else do you think   there's lighting all in there probably yeah  there's an artist that does stuff like this   he's the guy that made that big pink light in  kendall jenner's house i hope you've seen it   his name is james tyrell and his art was really  popularized in the 1960s so i wouldn't be   surprised if this feature was heavily inspired  by him since his art was all about taking light   and making light the art itself and definitely  heavily featured the circle motif oh my god this room is beautiful it's like the   curved fireplace and the little like  built-in arch doorway that's neat   i just love these beams so much they're so nice  and these panels are really cool too oh wow   i'm talking about a skylight we found the skylight  of all skylights so you seem to know like a lot   about real estate like is that just like a passion  of yours or kind of an interest i guess yeah and   then when people ask you like what do you do or  like tell me about this how do you describe this   it's usually a you know a weird conversation  and people ask you know about it but i just   tour houses that basically aren't going to exist  soon and know just document it before it's gone   it makes people like me and you know like us  that just want to respect it and document it   a bad name you know less and less of them every  year exists as they be demolished and replaced   and then like i can't imagine what was there  like the year before or the year before that   exactly right yeah i know i was saying  this to you earlier in the car that like   i feel like every year that goes past is  like we're just lucky that these houses   still exist because we're getting farther from  like the 50s and the six exactly right some   people understand it some people think it's weird  but what's kind of the response been like when   you've been posting these online do you ever get  any people saying like how are you in these houses   people ask well a lot of people think i have  connections to like real estate agents and stuff   they can give me them or to be honest i thought  that at first yeah i was like how are you just   finding so many cool places and like able to get  in them oh wow i can't wait to watch where you go okay i think that was this is the last of the  homes today yes cool well thank you again so   much this has just been you made my my day  my year maybe okay rochelle thoughts and   feelings on how today went oh my god that was  so much cooler than i could have even expected   the things we saw some of the like the  architectural features the appliances oh my god   and that first house was something else that first  house really set a standard that like i don't   think any house could could be with to be honest  that was just like everything that i needed to   see it's so much cooler even than i was thinking  too and i knew that it would be cool thank you   for bringing me along thanks you're welcome i'm  glad i got to share this experience with someone   we talked about it at the end with ethan but i  just want to reiterate again my thoughts on this   is just that i am so grateful to have been  able to see these homes before they are gone   forever i anticipate there will be some people who  disagree with the concept of going into homes that   you don't own the access to and i understand that  but i also think it's just so important to see   the history and appreciate things before we don't  have the opportunity to see them anymore i was so   disheartened to see some of the damage that  had been done to these homes because that would   in no way be my intention when going into these  and it doesn't seem like that was ethan's kind   of mentality either it's sad that that's happened  by people that have broken in and it's sad that   it's happening by professionals who are gonna  demolish all of these and they'll be gone um   i wish there was something we could do about it  but unfortunately i just don't have the budget to   save all of these homes i wish there was kind of  like like a pet rescue but for cool homes a cool   home rescue i want to adopt them all i don't know  it's a weird take that's how i feel but anyways uh   massive thank you to ethan for taking me and  rochelle out on this day honestly this is like   a memory i will have forever we had the most fun  seeing this and while we did tour all of these   homes today what you saw today was not the full  expansive tour of every room all these homes they   were huge if you want to see the full house tours  and see even more house tours of cool homes go   check out ethan on tiktok and youtube i will leave  links to all of that in the description below so   you can go check him out give him a subscribe  it would be it would be the only way i could   give a thank you back to him for taking us  on such an amazing trip i think that's all   i had for you today make sure you go in the  comments and tell me what your favorite thing   that you saw today there was so much and i i'm  curious to know what parts were your favorite and   a reminder to go check out our discord where  we can continue the conversation about this   over there thanks so much for watching  guys see you in the next one bye

2022-08-18 00:59

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