Casco Viejo
I was in Panama City near the French Embassy. The area is known as Casco Viejo and is undergoing gentrification. I saw this building and the door was unlocked. I snuck inside before my ride left and snapped a bunch of amazing pictures. This building is right on the beach and is falling apart quite nicely. Unfortunately a few days later I was woken up by an armed gunman and lost all of my photos. It looks like I’ll need to go back and get some new ones another day.
El Toro Airbase
These pictures were taken prior to the final demolition of the El Toro Airbase to make way for the Great Park in Irvine, Ca. Here are a few gems from that glorious day when I spent 5 hours and a few hundred pictures exploring.
To See More Click Here
Rispin Mansion: Part 3 the Finale
This is if you go down and around.
This is a walkway up to a courtyard.
This staircase goes back up to where we started.
This is one of the main walls in the courtyard. I wonder if a statue went there?
Literally twisting my arm through a hole and snapping off some pictures.
Random ditch in the center of the courtyard.
Jill hanging out at the bottom of the stairs.
I really like how nature has taken back this space.
This is from the random building off to the side.
Looking back from the side building to the main mansion.
Some crazy was ballsy enough to hop on the ceiling.
We are back where we started.
This door leads down to a path that will put you right in front of the building. The door is directly across from the Capitola Library.
I really like this space and I would not mind owning it. I’m sure it would cost a pretty penny to fix it up though. Regardless, I can’t wait to grab my gear and go inside.
Rispin Mansion: Numero 2
Ready, set, pictures!
This is the side that faces the street.
This staircase is absolutely gorgeous.
There are so many ground levels.
Yummy asbestos.
This is Jill scaring the crap out of me. There is easily a 50ft drop.
I really like the concrete work.
Unnecessarily strong door.
Someone has been busy.
This is the wall that goes down and around the lowest level.
There is some really amazing mural work down there.
One more post to go!
Rispin Mansion in Capitola
Here is some background history to the great Rispin Mansion, I just happened to stumble across it while I was driving around.
When Capitola’s owner F.A.Hihn died in 1913, his daughter, Katherine Cope Henderson, put the resort up for sale. H. Allen Rispin, a wealthy San Franciscan, bought it at the end of World War I. Although he had grand plans to develop “Capitola by-the-Sea,” Rispin overextended himself and was broke by 1928. He lost his elaborate 22-room mansion and most of his holdings in 1930-31. This picture was taken after the Rispin home had been sold to Burlingame millionnaire Robert Hays Smith. The Smith family ran into financial problems during The Great Depression and surrendered the mansion in 1939. It was then sold to the Catholic Church for use as a convent by the Order of Poor Clares. The nuns resided at the complex until 1957. The mansion has since been vacant of permanent residents, and is now owned by the City of Capitola.
This article also goes through the possible renovation, it’s about 10 years old and has yet to materialize.
A quick google search revealed these guys did some spelunking just a bit before I did.
UrbEx Rispin Mansion Part 1
UrbEx Rispin Mansion Part 2
But anyways, back to my story.
This is the location of the Rispin Mansion. I would recommend parking at the Capitola Library (Black Triangle). There is a walking path represented by the Green Dot that will lead you down a hill to a busted fence just pop through there and then you are at the Mansion (Red X). If they’ve fixed the wooden fence there are a couple of holes in the perimeter fence just keep checking. If they’ve patched all the holes, climbing never hurt anyone.
This place is absolutely gorgeous. It is definitely my favorite find as of this moment. From far away it just looks like another run down building but up close with the vegetation slowly engulfing the concrete it is magnificent.
I basically circle around the exterior of the building and snap a couple interior shots from holes in the boarded up windows. Stay tuned, more to come!
SJC Sewer
This is the Sewer and it’s just down the street from the Abandoned Building.
You are going to want to park near the Orange Dot. When I was there it was a gravel parking lot. Now you will see a paved path (that’s the Green Line) alongside the pit that leads into the runoff water. Follow that path until you are just about to run into a neighborhood. If you look off to the left side you will see some dirt mounds meant for bmx jumping alongside a sewer run off pipe. The entrance to the sewer is the Red X and that is just where we are going.
This is the Sewer Entrance looking out.
This is looking towards the Sewer. Now you should have your bearings. It’s amazing that we are going to go crawling around in there just for some graffiti.
These are shots taken as we walk inside the sewer.
This is about how far we made it until my flash gave out. I wish I had brought a light and a better flash unit.
Sparkles!
Epic gas mask dudes.
This guy is my favorite.
Next to this guy.
This is along the concrete walls below the path.
Some concluding thoughts, this is a residential neighborhood so try not to be too conspicuous. We had to walk around for awhile before people stopped watching us. It was a very public place. The graffiti is top notch and I can’t wait to come back with better gear. You definitely need to be thin and wearing gear that covers almost all of your body and don’t forget your light!
SJC Building Part 2
We continue our adventure at the top of the stairs in the room with the fresh paint. Oddly enough this room has a brick floor. I’m also pretty sure whatever was beneath it is no longer accessible.
This is the master piece itself.
Once we hopped the chasm this is what remains of the wall.
This is above the ruins of the entryway and at the top of the stairs.
If we turn around and look towards the rest of the building we see the remains of the rest of the building and several other rooms. This is the weakest part of the ceiling as you can see it is no longer supported.
This is what greets us in the next room. It is the only full wall in that room.
Next comes a closet.
This is the floor near the center of the 2nd story. It’s tremendously stable.
This is the farthest room from the stairs it is directly above the left most room on the bottom floor.
This is another example of how hearty the floor is.
This is the wall facing the way we came in.
This is looking back towards the stairs.
Slowly moving towards the dangerous part of the house.
I’m just risking life and limb to check out how unstable this area is.
Marshall and I heard people on the trail below the house. We figured we better shut up in case anyone wants to come investigate aka screw us over.
A close up of 420.
This is the closest I got to the Danger Pit.
I figured you all should know what this room was for.
It’s Spitfire!
We are now heading out of the building. Here’s another shot of the mural.
Gorgeous view coupled with a crippled building.
Marshall decides to veer over to the precipice.
This is the stairs. The angel had poop smeared on its face.
As it turns out part of the house was a beehive, so if you’re allergic you may want to skip this place.
Here’s the exterior parting shot.
This is the shed that smells like urine and bums that is just a few steps away from the building. There was nothing exciting inside. Now onto the sewer…
San Juan Capistrano – Building
Here’s is how you get to this building. Park anywhere near the A on the map above. Now, trek through the brush and cross the river. You should come across a path, if you follow the path you should eventually come to the building. It is sort of near the big orange X.
This is the building you are looking for. This building screams urban decay. It is falling apart and covered in graffiti.
This is the bottom floor left most room. These guys had some serious fun.
I love this skull.
Marshall checking out the wall.
This is Marshall and his best gang sign.
Nice exterior shot. The plaster is peeling off and there is some tags on the lower part of the building. There’s even a message that requests people don’t tag the outside of the building to not draw attention.
I think this used to be the kitchen. This building is not safe. There are holes in the wall and floor. You should really tread lightly.This is just an example.
These are the stairs to the second floor.
This is looking into the kitchen.
There was too much debris (glass, nails, splintered boards) for me to justify walking through there without boots.
This is may have been an entryway at one point. On the left is the kitchen.
This is the closet underneath the stairs.
This is looking up from the closet beneath the stairs. This is the weakest part of the floor upstairs. It was fun to hop over the chasm once we got up there.
At the top of the stairs was this gorgeous fresh paint and Marshall is floored. It could not have been more than a couple days old.
This is the wall adjoining the fresh paint.
To be continued…
An Introduction
This blog is to chronicle my adventures through sites of urban decay. I intend to update this in addition to my regular photography (which I have included a site for prints) whenever I encounter stunning examples of urban decay. These examples of urban decay maybe old abandoned buildings or just walls covered in graffiti. I hope you enjoy my findings. I’ll be sure to post general locations so you can go see these places for yourself.
