Ah, this one kills me. It’s a happy story in a sense – honest urban explorer returns money to family. But the photos – the photos! They protect the identity of the family in the article, but I can see from the photos that they are Slavic, and given that the money was American and Canadian, I’m guessing the vicinity of Detroit. And as someone with Slavic cousins who were drawn to Detroit for the auto industry, back when it was the Silicon Valley of its time, I could all too easily see this happening to my own family. That said, the place is a time capsule, the family now knows (and has presumably taken at least the photos home), and there’s the kindness of strangers aspect. So all in all, a happy tale, but still tugging at the heart, you know?
Here’s MESSYNESSYchic, where I first read about this:
The Abandoned House of Money and the Honorable Urban Explorer
And here’s FREAKTOGRAPHY, the person who explored and photographed the house (photos for sale, if you’re interested):
I’m guessing this house was in Canada, not Detroit. I base that on the fact that the article didn’t know how they got all the American $$, and the fact that the matchbox was from a Canadian company, and the record player, also Canadian out of Toronto. And being Canadian, (now living in America) I know that it was common habit to collect any American money that you came across back then.
Not true. The house was in Detroit. I live here, and I know photographers who also know who found the items. Just because there are Canadian items in the house doesn’t make it Canada. I have dozens of Canadian items in my house too – my mom was born in Toronto.
Hey! Thank you so much for posting the story here.
To clear things up – this was in Ontario, Canada.