Comments

someone just didnt like the plumbing. it looks like it broke and fell and splattered out. i remember when i first looked at this site and couldnt look away because i couldnt tell what i was looking at. maybe since its been several years that i havent found the same appeal. it just seems like i remember more pictures that would almost bring me to tears. is it because there arent more sites that grab you in, or am i just being more critical?

makes me want to hide and seek in the skinny trees

makes me think of only one thing

stirrups

you must stay and watch the show...... :)

matilda

the stage looks like a look at the stars and in the seats it kind of looks like a viewer left behind who doesnt give a s&*$! about the show but is still around.

Coming back through, re-reading everything and looking at all the pictures that have been added and the ones that were already here when I found the site probably almost 7 years back...

Back then, I lived in East TN, north of Knoxville, and the only abandoned asylum I'd been remotely close to was over in Asheville, NC. It's gone now, I think. I have a few pictures of the exterior, but the trip my then-friend and I took that day was "We're bored, let's go do something outside." So, no flashlights and no way in the old place. Went back a few months later, found a fence around the building (not locked) got closer, more pictures.

Then I moved up to Bucks Co over 5 years ago. And I never realized, until well after being up here, that Byberry was so close. Sure I's cross Byberry Rd. when I too my fiance to his allergist, but never out two and two together. I remember my fiance's mother (who grew up in Philly) saying how her family used to scare her and her sister into behaving, threatening to leave them at Byberry if they didn't behave, giving them exaggerated or possibly completely false stories to scare them.

Really sad to see these buildings rot and eventually be knocked down, and all the drama from the abatement never being properly done. My old elementary school was purchased by a hospital for storage of medical equipment and possibly records after it closed. Then that hospital closed. I don't know what happened to it since the hospital was closed. But it makes me wonder. So many of the things I see in these pictures reminds me. The old wall tiles, the soap dispensers (that never worked, and sorry I had to bring it up, it's true though), and even seeing windows like this, with the spray-painted smiley. They all remind me of that school, not necessarily "happy" memories, but memories none the less.

So strange. (sorry for tl;dr!)

thank you flora, i had seen that article, one of the more informative
and accurate pieces in recent memory. Glad that they got their info from
direct , informed sources.Covered a bit of history, and put the record straight about what alot of people DID try to do back when it was still
doable. Millbrook would have been enhanced once again by
what Halcyon Hall brings [brought?] to the village, instead of this
massively regrettable pain- in -the -ass- for everyone. But, it was not
to be. That's how it goes...

i think it is very important that people understand that there were
people, institutions, and interests that really did try very, very hard
to do what people advocate for here, when they see mott's amazing
photos of Halcyon. And that there was a window of opportunity,
and it sadly passed. It is an object lesson, for, and from, all perspectives

the village and the college always had a frosty relationship, as it
often is in these scenarios.
Timothy Leary probably didn't make that any easier , but did
make Millbrook a remarkably more culturally open and tolerant place.But when i was a little kid, i remeberer
the distinct identity of Millbrook as a college town, and the commerce
it brought to the village. Which dissappeard overnight in 77.


But before then, I remember the Old Millbrook, from my grandparent's
generation, from the old photographs, abandoned railroad lines,
the old slate stones in the tribute gardens,stories from older people
like Louise Tompkins, who told me so much about how amazing
and wonderful Millbrook's history was, and how important it all is.
Her regret was how little of it was photographed, that words
would not do these great things justice, some too wonderful and grand 'to be believed'...
the abundance of grand fairytale estates passed down through familys[.many of which i saw disappear like Halcyon surely will]
and the lingering past that surrounded one, that was very traditional,
and as close to a Norman Rockwell town that I can think of. And it
looked the part. Out of central casting.
Ms Bennett's progressive girls school was such a HUGE part of that
vignette, as was crazy HJ Davison's nutty hotel in the first place.

the antique boom became the post bennett focus for the village,
which pushed the [century old] weekender real estate phenomenon
into hyper celebrity overdrive, and now the business of Millbrook is
..... Millbrook itself.

so fencing is going up,but is Halcyon coming down? i doubt it will
very soon. but nothing makes somewhere nice look like #$%^
quicker than a bunch of chain link fence,right. ? Millbrook's real
estate cabals are horrified and drinking feverishly

as far as what replaces it all, i'll just throw it out there that the scenic
beauty of Millbrook and environs is what has made it attractive
from day one [described in the 1890's as resembling the Isle of Wight
and parts of Devonshire in the UK]

accordingly, they put something cool here to look at

whatever replaces it... try not to #$%^ it up, ok?

wanderer,hope you enjoy your visit, Millbrook is always beautiful in the fall. as you know. i'd venture you'll still be able to get some photos
of SOMETHING interesting here.
ok, cheers all

Greetings from the Umbrella Corporation! heh

I have gone through so many of your images...and this gallery...I have to say is so spectacular!!....the colors, angles, light, rooms...you are a master at capturing the feeling and mood of the buidlings...

I recommend your site all the time. You have inspired me too..I love old buildings and the decay and rot. The amazing process that comes with age and neglect. Please keep up the great work...and I am a fan for life!

Thank you for all your efforts and for putting up this site...

:)

at least the pic was recent but stated the demo won't make it for Oct 1- was holding my breath- can always take a pic thru the fence

Tough challenges, yes. But we've got a good social system, where everybody can get something to eat. People who steal that metal to sell it for scrap are not the homeless and hungry, but those idiots who never will get enough while acting without any thinking.

Sure, no problem. They have put the 1915 Berlin Phone Book online recently.

Brrr, Weissbier, that's no good! I only drink dark beer, especially Kellerbier ("Basement Beer"), way better! And only my local brands here - I've got about 1200 to choose from, without leaving my region.