An abandoned 19th-century farmhouse in New York has remained untouched for 4 decades take a look inside
Gabbi Shaw
- Photographer Bryan Sansivero was commissioned to photograph an abandoned farmhouse on Long Island.
- It was built in the 1860s and was abandoned a century later — it hasn't been touched for 40 years.
Photographer Bryan Sansivero was commissioned to photograph this house in Commack, New York, that's been abandoned for at least 40 years.
Sansivero told Insider there had been a legal battle between the previous owners and the local school district, which was bequeathed the home.
"Once that lawsuit was settled, the district had me come in to photograph everything in the house as it was," Sansivero said.
Once you walk into the home, you can see that the house retains much of its original look.
The red carpet has held up surprisingly well.
This gilded mirror's elaborate frame has held up over the last four decades, too.
The glass is also remarkably clear.
When looking at the dusty bottles left behind, it's almost like you've traveled back in time.
You probably don't want to touch any of the liquids inside, though.
"I've always been drawn to the unknown. I'm a very curious person and I just have always found abandoned buildings intriguing," Sansivero told Insider.
"I studied filmmaking and did a documentary on an abandoned psychiatric hospital. I realized there was so much more out there than just that place," he said.
This is Sansivero's favorite photo of the house. "I think it gives a good overall feeling that the house had," he said.
This study was probably a cozy place to work, back in the day.
Whoever lived here left some of their photos behind.
People usually feel "bewilderment over how things can be left behind in places" after looking at Sansivero's work, he said.
Sansivero shared with Insider some of the information he learned about the house's history.
Maybe the person who lived here was a seamstress.
"It was an old farmstead built in 1860," he said. "An elderly woman who was loved by her community lived there alone until she passed, I believe, in the 1960s."
The wallpaper is coming off the walls.
But he said there's more to the story. "I could write a small book" on the house, he added.
The attic's ceiling appears to be leaking.
The closet is still filled with clothes, as if the previous occupants only stepped out for a few hours.
It's tidier than some people's closets living in 2022.
His advice for aspiring photographers: "Don't be afraid of making art."
"Art can come from the strangest places so, whatever you're feeling, just follow that and I think amazing things will happen," he said.
Sansivero regularly shares photos of his work on Instagram.
He also published a book, aptly titled "American Decay."
"American Decay," as the title suggests, is filled with homes like this one, left untouched for decades — just waiting for someone to come along and rediscover them.
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