The Abandoned Charles Fothergill House and Taylor Farm Burlington Ontario

Abandoned House in Ontario, Found Fully Intact

For over to two years I watched this abandoned house, curious to know it’s story and what it looked like inside. It stands out in a part of town that has seen a boom in development, yet this old abandoned house still stands. Sometimes I would notice the grass has been cut, but most of the time the lawn is overgrown and weeds have taken over the driveway. Gradually windows would be broken, and more windows would be broken as the local kids started showing up at night.

Now this abandoned house sits, getting seemingly worse off every week as the local kids attempt to pull of the boards from the doors and windows that have since been installed.




The property is associated with the Fothergills, early pioneers in Nelson Township and a
founding family of Appleby Village.
The Crown Patent was issued to Christopher
Fothergill in 1845. Christopher Fothergill, along with John Alton and John Atkinson, are
considered the founders of Appleby Village.
The subject land was transferred through
the Fothergill family from Christopher to his son John, and on to John’s son Charles.
The house was constructed under the ownership of Charles Fothergill. It is believed that
this house was built by Slater of Dundas.
This may be a reference to J & K Slater, who
also built a church in Appleby in the early 1900s. Charles’ younger brother, Thomas
Fothergill, farmed the Fothergill property on the west side of Appleby Line. In 1900,
Charles and Amelia Fothergill sold their farm property and moved to Dundas.
The subject property is also associated with the Taylor family, who farmed the property
for over 50 years. The land came into the Taylor family in 1945, when it was sold by
Ernest Featherstone to Jack Howard Taylor. The Taylor property remained under the
ownership of John and Ruth Taylor until 1989, when it came under the joint ownership
of five members of the Taylor Family.
John and Ruth Taylor farmed the property until
1997, when John was 83 years old, after which it was rented to tenant farmers.
Following the death of their parents, the Taylor children assumed ownership of 1309
Appleby Line.
The house was bulldozed in the night on February 10th, 2018.




I made a follow up visit to this house recently as the condition of the exterior of this house is just getting worse and worse.

The local kids and scrappers have destroyed the inside of this house, mostly all of the furniture and valuables are gone – presumably/hopefully removed by the landowners.  This house will no doubt continue to decline, I am unsure of the plans for this house, I have seen two different reports –  one that states it will be demolished and another that it has been granted heritage status.




18 thoughts on “The Abandoned Charles Fothergill House and Taylor Farm Burlington Ontario”

  1. You have done it to me again, Freaktography. Such haunting photograph’s of a sad house, it is as though the people went out and never came back. It bought a lump to my throat. It is just a shame, nobody cares and kid’s think it’s ok to take advantage.
    Thankyou from me in the UK, for taking such wonderful photo’s.

  2. this is the best 1 out side of the tea pot house but wowie! wat a precious find wish u cud lock it back up so no1 wud get in there and steal or vandalize. I wud live in this house as is, dont even look dusty. wow just wow! I am amazed by ur ability to get the shot no matter how long u have to wait! love ur work keep it up! 🙂

  3. This is a beautiful house, but I see that a window and door glass have been broken, a sign vandals have found it. I’m assuming you didn’t do it. It looks as though this house hasn’t been vacant for long and I hope that nothing else happens to it. My parents house was left in tack and even though we live in the same town and checked daily, it still got vandalized. It also looks as though much love was in this house, so please help keep an eye on it and report vandalism if you see it.

  4. Great pics! Really nice house. But I collect antiques and it kills me to know that treasures like in these pics will probably be stolen or vandalized.

  5. the only picture I was missing was the kitchen with the stove sink and fridge….wish u wud have gotten that too :/

  6. I m fascinated by abandoned place and really love your work !
    How amazing to find such a beautiful houses and Still everything there , it s magic , would love to enter in those places it would be a great moment full of emotions .
    I m happy to havé founded your work it give me a lot!
    Here in France it doesn t exist beautiful abandoned houses like i Can see in your work , but i always dreamed about it ….
    So thank you !!!

  7. It was remarkable at one time it’s a shame kids (brats)and people have to be so miserable with their own lives they messed it up.it was like being frozen in time until y hey destroyed it.

  8. It was remarkable like being frozen in time .was amazing until kids (brats)and people tore it up its a shame people are so miserable with their own lives have to mess other people’s things up.

  9. Sad to say that ready a update on this house that vandals did get in & destroyed the house. Too bad that they didn’t sell the house so that a family could’ve moved in & brought love back to the house.

  10. This house don’t look abandoned and you can move right in. Very interesting pictures. Love looking at them.

  11. Sad on so many levels. 1) That people come to the end of life with not a soul to take care of their belongings and affairs, that they pass alone. 2) In situations where this happens that someone doesn’t come in and donate to charity when nobody is there in the family to claim, so that “A**holes” don’t come in and do such heinous things such as this. Kids didn’t do this, adults did, to even strip the wooded baseboards. Great before and after pics, really shows the difference and the sadness of vandals – The Antiques that once were there, people saw $$ signs. It really is a shame, would love to know more about the original owners and what happened. Thanks for sharing!!

  12. This is so heartbreaking to see. All the valuables that someone cherished. A house well loved, to be ruined by kids that don’t care.. where is this house in Ontario..

  13. this is so sad why!!!! kids and scrap people leave well enough alone hope someone can save this beautiful home

  14. I almost cried at the beautiful bedroom. It looked so clean. The two beds pushed together were so poignant.

  15. I saw the video on YouTube, I’m using a smartTV and didnt realize it was connected to just the internet, but anyway I read the article about the abandoned asylum and the files of all the different mental descriptions is what landed me here. I love your work.

  16. so sad another magestic old girl now is gone. I smiled as I saw things I have loved over the years Like the sewing machine and the rustic styled sofa set that was so like one we owned over the years.

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