Another from my archive.....
This beautiful mansion was built in 1811 (which as any fool knows is rather old for the USA!), and significantly altered and extended in 1839 and 1849. In 1853 the original owner sold the house and parts of the extensive grounds became a girls school. In the 20th Century the girls school was closed and a huge prison was built in the grounds, utilising some of the former school buildings. This had the unfortunate effect of placing the mansion within the boundaries of the prison and, with a use unable to be found for it, it fell into disrepair and dereliction.
The prison is still very much an active facility and the only way to see this house without being shot to death by prison guards is through the trust who are slowly but surely restoring it. Security on the visits is tight, the trust members have to know exactly who is coming beforehand, what the plans are etc etc - no silly/distasteful model shoots are allowed, no props, nothing like that. You then get a couple of hours to shoot, and make your way out.
Although the house is empty it does happen to contain the most gorgeous staircase I've ever shot. I could stay there all day admiring it and shooting it from all sorts of angles it's that nice.
I only got the one external as we were saying our goodbyes sadly. It's a lot bigger than it looks from the front.
The dinkiest bathtub I've seen since the ones in St. Gerard's Hospital!
And no matter how far into the house I got, I could never stray too far from those stairs...
Ohhhh those stairs again
Thanks for looking
This beautiful mansion was built in 1811 (which as any fool knows is rather old for the USA!), and significantly altered and extended in 1839 and 1849. In 1853 the original owner sold the house and parts of the extensive grounds became a girls school. In the 20th Century the girls school was closed and a huge prison was built in the grounds, utilising some of the former school buildings. This had the unfortunate effect of placing the mansion within the boundaries of the prison and, with a use unable to be found for it, it fell into disrepair and dereliction.
The prison is still very much an active facility and the only way to see this house without being shot to death by prison guards is through the trust who are slowly but surely restoring it. Security on the visits is tight, the trust members have to know exactly who is coming beforehand, what the plans are etc etc - no silly/distasteful model shoots are allowed, no props, nothing like that. You then get a couple of hours to shoot, and make your way out.
Although the house is empty it does happen to contain the most gorgeous staircase I've ever shot. I could stay there all day admiring it and shooting it from all sorts of angles it's that nice.
I only got the one external as we were saying our goodbyes sadly. It's a lot bigger than it looks from the front.
The dinkiest bathtub I've seen since the ones in St. Gerard's Hospital!
And no matter how far into the house I got, I could never stray too far from those stairs...
Ohhhh those stairs again
Thanks for looking
