Cornerstone Content,  Photography

The Exploration Of Old Lodge

Old Lodge was a 10,000 square-foot (3048 square meter) building built circa 1890, built in Tomkins Cove, New York. Over the years it was used as a hotel, a private school, a girl scout camp, an orphanage, and a private residence. There are unconfirmed reports that the building was used as a nursing home for a short period of time. Years of neglect and decay have left it as a shell of a building, and as such it has been formally condemned and entry to the building was strongly discouraged and extremely dangerous.

At the time of my visit to photograph the property in 2011, it was for sale for $399,000 USD with the condition of the sale being that the building was to be demolished and removed. In other words, this place simply wasn’t going to be around for much longer, and it was NOT a good idea to take pictures here.

While little is known about this location, the one thing that I know for sure is that this was perhaps one of the most dangerous and unstable locations I have photographed.  It was a very bad idea to enter this location, and I must insist that nobody else attempt to enter this building or any other such building for any purpose.  The entire structure shown here is completely unstable and the floors have hidden soft spots everywhere from years of water damage.

12 Comments

  • Laura

    What an array of life this old building has seen, it is such a shame that it was left without giving anyone a chance to salvage some of the items when they were in better condition, so many love the quality of items from the past. Those old disheveled walls have many stories locked inside forever, great photos Tom. I am glad you weren’t injured during your photo outing there. Thank you for sharing all of the rooms and the structure, great photos.

    • Thomas

      Hey Laura! I have mixed feelings about this particular building because of it’s rich longstanding history in the community in which it sat, and would love to have seen it get restored. Unfortunately when it was my turn to visit and photograph this property, I could literally see and feel the building crumbling all around me. For obvious safely reasons, tearing down the building was perhaps a very wise decision. It was extremely unstable and hazardous, and it was quite easily one of the most dangerous places I have ever photographed.

  • Rizzee Cerdeñola

    Looks like the location is dangerous indeed. I don’t where the owner went. This could be a resthouse instead.

  • jolly555

    This is really an exploration for me, one get to see if the interior and what it has in stock not just the outer lodge. Great job you have done.

  • Obalade Damilola

    Honestly..you have guts..I can’t step into a building like that..a building I know could crumble any minute..the best thing is just to demolish the building.. It’s been destroyed by the passage of time..

  • ekimbadger

    I saw this old dilapidated house and instantly wanted to see the inside after reading about its rich history so it was a treat seeing the inside thanks to the courage of the photographer. Pity we could not get a shot of it at its glory because it looks like it was a very pretty house.

  • Maury Cheskes

    I’m impressed you got so many photos in such a dangerous setting. It’s too bad a building like this that served so many purposes ceases to be of value. It’d be nice if they revived it offering the same services.

  • brainedet

    It was still good if you to get into there no matter how risky it was to get us this image. I love to dexterity it should be imbibe by everyone to succeed in our endeavors.

  • Howard B

    You were lucky to have been able to capture photos here at all. It was totally worth it though – your pics are amazing.

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