How I Discovered the Abandoned Cat Lady House | Story of the Burlington Cat Lady House

the abandoned catlady house in Burlington Ontario was originally discovered by me in the summer of 2012 it would come to be one of the most sought-after abandoned homes in the province finding an abandoned home like the abandoned cat lady house is mostly luck mixed was knowing where to look and most importantly knowing what signs to look for many of the abandoned houses that I've discovered actually look abandoned there's also those that you just aren't sure about take the cat lady house for example like most urban explorers do we're always looking for the obvious signs such as overgrown grass broken windows boarded windows no mailbox or a mailbox that is stuffed with newspapers and phone books driving home on a summer night I saw a property with a very faded sign with a painted name of the farm barely visible beyond that sign was a slightly overgrown lawn that showed some signs of maintenance there were rows of trees and a car parked in the driveway this abandoned house was set far back from the road almost totally out of sight the first thing I noticed was a chain across the front door and overgrown weeds on the long steps heading up the inside French doors were open and a part of the ceiling tiles had collapsed from water damage but I was still a little unsure of whether this is actually abandoned or not I decided to take a chance because all signs pointed to this house being abandoned and I was right after the circling the entire house and the surrounding sunroom I made my way inside the house where I was immediately overcome by the smell of cat cat pee cat feces cat litter and maybe even a dead cat then I realized it's not only the smells of cat around me it's also cat stuff the next thing that I could not avoid was the wallpaper awful awful wallpaper in almost every room from floor to ceiling upon further exploration of the abandoned cat lady house the many rooms and the two floors you get a strong sense of sadness and loneliness it's very hard in an abandoned house like this one to not draw your own conclusions of what may have happened there were so many personal items left all over the house not claimed by any family members just left here two of the most heartbreaking things that I found in this home were a cane resting against the house as though that's where it was left when the owner fell and passed away all alone in the living room the other was a card written to a father by his daughter who had moved away to Germany she talks about him keeping up his daily walks and to not smoke too much there were countless other items found throughout the home like this jewelry box the ballerinas still spun when I opened it and the song played one whole time and then it stopped there were these drawings done by one of the owners there were dozens of pages of these sketches I found a few photos that I had carefully placed in the same spot as where the photo was taken and finally as if there wasn't enough sadness in this house and proof that the owner had actually died in the house I found this what looks like a cat I wondered how long had this animal wandered the home afraid before she tucked herself underneath this chair and let herself die after my first visit I had invited a few trusted explorers to see the place with me and not long after that the scrappers made their way in the copper pipes had been pulled from the walls brass like pictures had been stolen the kitchen and living room had been looted I had been to this house twice since my first explorer and this has become one of the most popular abandoned buildings among local urban explorers regardless of the looting scrapping and the fact that nothing is as it was when I first found it it still attracted visitors and every shot I see from another Explorer is another reminder of how sad it felt on my very first visit I made a return visit to the cat lady house in 2015 the house had been destroyed looted and tagged to the point that this home is no longer unique or remarkable a number of so-called explorers have gone so far as to published videos of this house and stupidly published the address and even the name of the woman who lived here it was then one of the easiest abandoned houses to find in the area thanks to a handful of people who no longer had care or regard for preservation this house is one example of why I try to be so careful with who I share information with and what information I provide when I publish images and stories destruction and looting of an abandoned house is inevitable but anything I can do to hold that off I will gladly do fast forward to February 2016 on the night of February 1st in the early morning of February 2nd this house was burned to the ground and completely destroyed the news reports were saying the fire investigators suspected that this was an arson I returned the day of the fire and took some photos of my own to find the house had been completely flattened the cat lady helps would go on to be one of the most popular locations in the province for several years until the day that it burned down to this day the abandoned cat lady house is one of the most visited locations on my website and one of the most viewed videos on my YouTube page [Music] you [Music]