Several miles outside of New York City rests an abandoned home unlike any other. It is not a small apartment or a townhouse, it is a 57-room mansion. This enormous property was built in the 1930s and has not been lived in since the 1970s. Bryan Sansivero, a photographer, lucked out when he got the chance to photograph this incredible, albeit haunting, mansion that everyone seemingly forgot all about.
As soon as Bryan found out about this neglected property, he knew he had to photograph it as it would be an incredible shoot. This mansion had been uninhabited for nearly 50 years. What Bryan managed to capture is both stunning and haunting.
What you are looking at is the entrance to the mansion. Over the course of years of neglect, the vegetation has taken over the Siamese staircase that once surely gleamed with prestige. This was now an entryway that did not make you feel invited into.
It would take someone like Bryan, a determined and brave individual, to walk through that front door to take a look at a mansion no one has stepped foot into in over 40 years.
Bryan entered the mansion through the creaky front door and was immediately greeted by a huge staircase. The staircase seemed to invite Bryan to go upstairs to visit the other abandoned rooms.
A single baby stroller stood at the bottom of the stairs, making the house feel like it was somehow frozen in time. There was an eerie feel to the house, cold and drafty but also something else...
As he walked through the house he stepped into the ballroom which had a huge chandelier dangling from the ceiling. There were two grand pianos in the room that were surely there to entertain the past visitors to this home when it was occupied.
However, now, the pianos were there standing lonely in the massively empty room. There was a true need for this room to be filled with people, yet it was empty and cold.
The doll photographed here must have belonged to a little girl who lived here years ago. The doll was sitting upright on this dilapidated couch looking out into the room where she must have been left, never to be taken by the little girl.
It is haunting to see how things were just left in the house, begging the question as to what happened for such precious items to be left without care.
Whoever lived in this house last was a fan of shoes, that is for sure. This collection points to a woman with a flare for the stylish and makes it curious to know who she was and how she lived when this was her home.
Now, the shoes lay silently in the closet collecting dust. They are memories of the woman who lived in this home and what her style was.
Bryan stopped in the hallway to see another child's toy being left in the middle of a room - this toy horse and saddle. He could practically picture the little boy or girl riding the toy around the room laughing loudly as they were enjoying themselves.
However, the laughter of the children in this home has long left the house, leaving and empty draft and a chill where warmth and family should have been.
In addition to toys, there were several paintings placed around the mansion, as well. Someone who had lived in this house must have been an art aficionado to have such a collection.
However, now, the art is still standing inside the home with no one to admire it and the dampness taking over the fine work, which is now deteriorating due to exposure. The rodents that have taken over the home are the only inhabitants now.
There are so many items in the mansion that point to a family that lived here. This boarding school trunk was unlocked and in a boys room. Bryan tried to identify the boy in the painting but could not.
The boy must have been the son of the owners and this was his trunk filled with his prized possessions left behind to collect dust as the years chip away at it.
This gold-trimmed cabinet sat in one of the mansion's grand hallways. This cabinet would have been one of the first things a guest to the home would see when they walk through the main floor.
Today, the cabinet is yet another reminder of the grand home this once was and the sad state it is in today. There were so many beautiful things in this home, why would this family just get up a leave without taking any of their belongings?