Some houses are old. This one is older than most countries’ constitutions. The Great House was built in 1698, according to the post that published these photographs — for members of an old family, the Suttons — and it now sits abandoned and derelict, rotting away, with a small time capsule left behind. The featured photograph was taken at night, and the house looks exactly like a building that has outlived everyone who ever cared for it: red brick, boarded windows, an ornate stone doorway, and darkness everywhere else.
The caption is unusually rich for a Facebook explore post. It gives the date, the family, the architectural period, and a short history of English house-building. This article follows that caption closely, and where the caption states a fact, it is marked as the post’s claim — because the post is the only source, and no separate verification is offered in it.
Built in 1698, photographed at night
The house belongs, according to the post, to a short period in English architecture: that of William and Mary. The seventeenth century, the post explains, marks the transition from the old, rather primitive medieval ways of house-building to a more sophisticated way of life — the shift from the uncomplicated timber-frame houses of the Tudor and Stuart period to the grander brick-built and well-designed Georgian houses. The Great House owes its design to Dutch influence, the post says, because William of Orange came from Holland to become king with Mary Stuart as queen, and brought with him a new style in architecture, a love of tulips and pug dogs — all of which, the post says, inhabit the Great House.
Whether every detail of that history is right is not something the post proves, and it is not something this article can prove either. What the post states is presented here as the post’s account: built in 1698, for the Suttons, in the William and Mary style, with Dutch influence.
The night photograph shows what three centuries have done to that design. The red-brick front is still upright, with stone quoins at the corners, a green-framed window, two round windows, and an ornate arched stone doorway reached by steps. The other windows are boarded. The roof is dark against a dark sky. It is the only exterior photograph in the set, and it is a good one — the house fills the frame, and nothing else competes with it.
A short timeline, as the post tells it
| When | What the post says |
|---|---|
| 1698 | The house is built for members of the Suttons family |
| William and Mary period | A short period of English architecture, with Dutch influence from William of Orange |
| After that | Timber-frame building gives way to grander brick Georgian houses |
| Now | The house sits abandoned and derelict, rotting away, with a small time capsule left behind |
The timeline is the post’s, not a historian’s. It is included because it is the clearest summary of what the post claims, and because it shows how much of the story is historical framing rather than recent fact. The only recent fact in it is the last line: the house is derelict now.
A time capsule in the red room
Inside, the house is not a grand empty shell. It is a small, cluttered time capsule, and the photographs show it room by room.
The red room is the strongest of them. The walls are red, the fireplace is green-painted with red detailing, and a cracked mirror hangs above it. Bamboo-pattern wallpaper covers one wall. A hanging lampshade, a brown canvas chair, and old family photographs lean against the fireplace — one of the photographs shows three children with a dog — amid broken glass and debris on the floor. It is a room that was lived in, then left, then broken into by damp and time.
The time-capsule details continue elsewhere. A vintage HMV portable television with a greenish screen sits on a debris-covered floor among old papers and fabric, next to a wooden frame. A closer look at the same red room’s fireplace shows the green paint and red detailing, the cracked mirror above it, and the family photographs leaning against it amid broken glass. The stairwell is derelict — a purple-painted upper flight, green steps, a light-blue balustrade, peeling paint, and a white sheet draped over something on the stairs.
The post calls what is left behind “a small time capsule”, and that wording is careful and right. This is not a house frozen whole, with every room untouched. It is a house with fragments left in it: a television, some photographs, a chair, a sheet. Small, but enough to show that people lived here, and recently enough that their photographs and their television are still recognisable.
That is also what makes the post’s last line land. The explorer writes that it is sad to see the house go like this, and that it must have looked beautiful back in its day. The photographs support that. The doorway is still ornate. The fireplace is still green and red. The house has not been demolished or gutted. It is rotting, but it is still itself.
For more houses in this condition, see more derelict houses. For the contrast — a house of a similar age that is lived in and for sale — see a 1902 Minnesota house that is for sale and lived in. The difference between the two is the point: old houses for sale — a different thing from an abandoned house.
FAQ
When was the Great House built?
In 1698, according to the post, for members of the Suttons family.
What architectural period is it?
The William and Mary period, according to the post, with Dutch influence from William of Orange.
Who were the Suttons?
The post describes them only as “an old family” for whom the house was built. No further detail is given.
Where is the Great House?
No place is named in the post, and none is given here.
What is the time capsule inside?
A small one, according to the post: a vintage television, old family photographs, a chair, and other fragments left among debris — not a whole house frozen in time.
Is the house still standing?
Yes, according to the photographs. It is derelict and rotting, with boarded windows, but the structure, the doorway, and the fireplaces are still in place.
Can I visit it?
No visiting information is given here, and entering private property without permission is not encouraged.
Disclaimer
This article is general information only, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules on abandoned and private property differ by state and county; check county/local records and a local professional before acting.
Photos
Photos by Luke2Explore, via the original Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/Luke2Explore/posts/the-abandoned-great-housethis-house-has-some-interesting-history-the-house-was-b/1375042121328139/ — 5 of the 26 photos are shown here.
