My brother sent me the video below taken recently in his old prep school, and it broke us both. In 1980 (or so), when my parents decided to move my brother from the local Catholic grade school to the Episcopalian school in the posh town nearby, I was over the moon. I remember thinking we had arrived. Seriously. I thought that. Even as a child, I was in love with architecture, and to my young eyes, this building looked straight out of a fairy tale. Clearly anyone associated with the place would have magical powers, or at least superior social standing. During my brother’s time there, every time the family attended a school event, I spent my time there examining every detail. I really was obsessed with this place. Years later, reading Harry Potter for the first time, I laughed at myself when I realized I was picturing Hogwarts as my brother’s school.
The boarding school, though glorious, was apparently going through very hard times, and in 1991, it closed its big, gorgeous doors forever. It has been sitting there, unloved and un-lived-in ever since.
Watching the video below from the urbex duo known as The Proper People absolutely broke my heart. I don’t think there’s ever been a building I’ve loved more than that school, and to see it wasting away made me so very sad. I was also amazed at the sheer volume of still-gorgeous architectural salvage hanging around in the building. Chandeliers, stained glass windows, carved doors, solid wood panels, all those beautiful pews, the bookcases and amazing fireplaces, and those staircases. I think the newel posts and railings alone would be worth a million dollars. What a terrible, terrible waste. The one thing that made me feel a little better was seeing that I hadn’t glamorized it in my memory. It really was as magical as I remembered.
As sad as the (illegal) tour of the building made me, when I did a little research to find out what was to become of my architectural soul mate, the results made me even more depressed. The city plans to turn it into a sports complex, gutting the building and keeping only the front facade. Ugh.
I guess that’s better than letting it fall in, but the thought of all that gorgeous stuff inside being discarded makes me crazy. I’m going to try to find out when they’re doing demo, and see if I can’t score us some keepsakes. Construction site dumpster diving used to be a hobby of mine, you know…
You can follow The Proper People on their website and on Instagram and YouTube.
And because I can’t leave the post on that dismal note, here are some other very cool locations The Proper People have explored.
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My OBT 
February 17, 2020 at 7:12 am
Great shame!
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February 17, 2020 at 12:01 pm
It really is. Such a gorgeous place.
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February 17, 2020 at 7:52 am
What a beautiful space! Where is it? I might need to do some deconstruction dumpster diving too, that stained glass is magnificent!
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February 17, 2020 at 7:54 am
Oh, I see Albany!
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February 17, 2020 at 12:02 pm
I’ll FB messenger you the location. The Proper People are careful not to publicize the locations of their explorations to keep vandals from ruining them, so I’m going to take a page from their book.
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February 17, 2020 at 8:47 am
This happens a lot in Europe and the old building are falling down. The school I went to is now a parking lot and that was not that long ago. Sad but true. Hal
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February 17, 2020 at 12:02 pm
Such a shame!
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February 17, 2020 at 9:18 am
Heart breaking and these old building were built so much better than what we have today.
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February 17, 2020 at 12:03 pm
That’s absolutely true, though i can’t begin to imagine how much asbestos and lead are in there.
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February 17, 2020 at 10:41 am
So sad to see this, Donna. I hope you do get to bring a piece of this home.
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February 17, 2020 at 12:03 pm
I hope so, too.
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February 17, 2020 at 1:52 pm
I love exploring abandoned places whether in person – legally, of course – or via the photographs of others. It definitely feels different, however, when they are places you once knew well. Abandoned places are always poignant I suppose.
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February 18, 2020 at 10:07 am
I feel the same. I love ruins, and they make me want to fix them and make it all better. It’s an expensive personality flaw.
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