“$14-Million Abandoned Mansion”: 69 Eerie And Fascinating Urbex Finds

Shot this abandoned time capsule house on one of the coldest days I’ve ever been out exploring, but it paid off. Every room was packed with vintage treasures like the owners just walked away and never came back.

The Abandoned Splatalot Game Show Set was the site of a hilarious medieval-themed physical game show geared to the tween audience, featuring an extreme obstacle course with heaps and loads of splats and spills.

Each episode features a different group of thrill-seeking teen contestants, dubbed Attackers, competing in three hilarious rounds: Cross the Moat, Escape the Stockade, and Capture the Crown.

The Defenders of Splatalot, an international squad of medieval-themed gladiators, do their best to protect the castle from the Attackers – leaving only one to be crowned King or Queen of Splatalot.

The filming of Splatalot began in Amaranth Ontario back in September of 2010. The show, which was aired on YTV, ABC Australia, the BBC in England as well as Disney and Nickelodeon in the United States, lasted two seasons.

Each episode featured 12 contestants, known as the Attackers, facing off against gladiators, the Defenders of Splatalot, over three stages — cross the moat, escaping the stockades and finally, capturing the crown.

However, the castle’s spinning mace wheel, giant foam axes, water engulfed floor, water guns and walls are now a shell of what they once were as the show stopped filming in 2015 leaving the set vacant and open to the elements, also very visible to curious passers by on the local road way.

This abandoned house was built in the late 1960s as a mid century modern residence, it was designed to integrate with its surroundings rather than dominate them. The house is listed on the city’s heritage inventory, but it is not fully protected, and its future remains uncertain.

I documented the house and focused on its architecture, history, and current condition rather than myths or exaggeration.

July 3rd is a pretty special day, it was this day in 2019 that I spent several hours exploring and navigating the many halls, rooms and different levels of the former Canadian Niagara Power Station in Niagara Falls.

Opened in 1905, closed 100 years later in 2005 and officially decommissioned in 2006, this was one of three power plants in Niagara Falls that were left vacant and unused.

The station saw quite a bit of activity in the early 2000's, with several urban explorers documenting their trips into the plant and into the tailrace. Many told stories of having to rappel down into the tailrace, or, make a very sketchy trek along the shores of the lower Niagara River to get up and into the tailrace from below.

My opportunity came in 2019 when a good friend of mine, and a very seasoned explorer, had a successful trip into the plant and let me know.

I have documented this all on my website for those who wish to read the story.

During the time of this visit, the Niagara Parks Commission were in the process of evaluating the facility for potential use as a tourist destination, museum and experience.

These plans became a reality on July 1st, 2021 when Phase One of the plan officially opened - the main hall opened as a tourist destination. Then, one year later in July 2022, Phase Two saw the opening of "The Tunnel", taking tourists down a glass elevator into the dark and damp tailrace tunnel for an experience and a view of Niagara Falls that had previously only been reserved for few.

I took that tour in the summer of 2021 with my daughter, Victoria, closing the loop on this whole experience!