Buckminster Fuller’s Home in a Dome
Abandoned Poconos Legend: Buck Hill Inn
Built in 1901, the Inn at Buck Hill Falls was once the class of Poconos Mountain resorts. The thousand-acre retreat featured amenities such as an amphitheater, a 27-hole golf course, horseback riding, an indoor pool, swimming, and tennis. For decades the resort thrived, and would expand until eventually becoming a 400-room, 300,000 square-foot facility. The end of the Buck Hill Inn began with a downturn in business from the late 1970s into the 1980s. In 1990, the owners closed it for good. Numerous attempts have tried, and failed, to restore the century-old resort. In the meantime Mother Nature, scrappers, and vandals have been slowly tearing down what remains of the Inn at Buck Hill.
Tunnel 51: Secret Racing Research Facility
This boarded-up tunnel in the mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania dates back two centuries. It was originally built by Carnegie and Vanderbilt for a nineteenth-century railroad, but hard times resulted in four decades of abandonment. In the mid-twentieth century the re-born tunnel spent time as part of America’s first Superhighway, before a re-routing of the Turnpike resulted in another four decades of abandonment. Today the Laurel Hill Tunnel is not abandoned; it has been re-purposed as a test facility by an innovative racing organization. Now an “Area 51″ of racing technology, the tunnel was the subject of multiple patents before witnessing a restriction of use by racing sanctioning bodies. The secret lies in aerodynamics.
Spreepark: Disney World of Socialism
An abandoned amusement park hides along a river in the Treptower forest of East Berlin. Known today as Spreepark, it was originally the Kulturpark when built by socialist East Germany in 1969. Declining attendance and tight government controls contributed to the park’s demise, which created financial insolvency and forced Spreepark to permanently close in 2001. In the meantime, attempts by the city to auction the property have failed. A contractual guarantee protects the park from developers until 2061, but little is protecting Spreepark from nature and vandals.
The Conservatory Under a Lake
Previously Sometimes Interesting featured the story of a twenty-first century swindler and the spoils of his deception. In this post we examine a nineteenth-century offender who similarly executed outlandish ideas for his homestead. Our subject is Whitaker Wright, an enterprising salesman who made, then lost, then made again millions defrauding mining investors in two continents. His thirst for bravado drove lavish spending on his estate, Witley Park, in the South of England. Witley Park was eventually lost to a fire in 1952. Fortunately, the estate’s most fascinating piece – the conservatory under a lake – survived.
Spoils of US Fidelis
This house in Middle America fits the definition of excess (unless you consider having a bowling alley and an eight-car garage necessary). It’s builder’s use of the finest materials rang up an eventual construction bill of $27 million – in a neighborhood with a median home price of $234,600. What makes this home stand out isn’t the forty-thousand square feet, hidden rooms, or any of its many spiral staircases. More interesting is the story of who built the home, and how construction was funded.
The Oldest Airplane Factory in the World
On the west side of Dayton, Ohio, a group of old white buildings topped with arched parapets sits in a cleared lot just off U.S. 35. For nearly 85 years these buildings produced everything from firearms to auto parts. But what makes them special was their function during the thirteen years prior, as the first airplane factory in the United States. Originally erected by flight pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1910 and ’11, the buildings helped shape the dawn of the aviation era. For nearly 100 years these factories produced parts that kept America in the skies, in the war, and on the road. But with no tenant today, the buildings’ future is less certain. If a push from the National Aviation Heritage Area and its partners is successful, the oldest airplane factory in the world just might be preserved for future generations.
Pre-Earthquake: San Francisco in 1906
Thanks to the creative ideas of four early filmmakers, later generations have the chance to see San Francisco in early 1906, before the now famous Earthquake decimated the city.
