NEW YORK CASTLE WITH A GRIZZLY PAST

Castle with a grisly past: Eerie photos show an abandoned fairy-tale mansion deep in the forests of New York once owned by a family plagued by madness

• Pictures show the overgrown Dundas Castle in Roscoe, New York, slowly being swallowed in to the woodland
• Crumbling mansion, also known as Craig-E-Clair, started life as a summer lodge built by in the early 1880s
• Land then purchased by Ralph Wurts-Dundas whose wife and daughter were later committed to a sanatorium

These eerie photos show the abandoned fairy-tale castle deep in the forests of New York - and once owned by a family plagued by madness.

Pictures show the overgrown Dundas Castle in Roscoe, New York, slowly being swallowed in to the woodland and the hand-crafted doors and windows falling to bits. 

The crumbling mansion, also known as Craig-E-Clair, started life as a summer lodge built by Bradford Lee Gilbert in the early 1880s. After Gilbert passed away in 1911, the land and lodge was purchased by Ralph Wurts-Dundas in 1915.

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Eerie photos show an abandoned fairy-tale castle deep in the forests of New York - and once owned by a family plagued by insanity

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Pictures show the overgrown Dundas Castle in Roscoe, New York, slowly being swallowed in to the woodland and the hand-crafted doors and windows falling to bits

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The crumbling mansion, also known as Craig-E-Clair, started life as a summer lodge built by Bradford Lee Gilbert in the early 1880s

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After Gilbert passed away in 1911, the land and lodge was purchased by Ralph Wurts-Dundas who began construction of the castle soon after

Dundas began construction of the castle soon after, but died in 1921 when the estate was in its final stages of construction.

Then in 1922, just a year after Dundas's death, his wife Josephine, was committed to a sanatorium, without ever having lived in the castle.

After her commitment to an institute, the couple's only child Muriel Harmer Wurts-Dundas, inherited the fortune that her mother had only just received.

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Abandoned: Dundas began construction of the castle but died in 1921 when the estate was in its final stages of construction

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In 1922, just a year after Dundas's death, his wife Josephine, was committed to a sanatorium, without ever having lived in the castle

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The castle's interior is slowly crumbling away and pictures show rotting doors and peeling paint in the building's interior

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Empty: It is thought that despite having been built by the Dundas family, no-one ever lived in the building

However, Muriel also developed mental health issues and soon had a large portion of her fortune taken from her by the castle care-takers who were acting as her guardians. 

When her mental stability was questioned she too was soon committed, just as her mother had been.

This meant that none of the Dundas family ever spent time in Dundas Castle. The tragedy sparked many myths.

There were rumours that the mother Josephine liked to ride her horse through the local town, tossing gifts to children - and that when she became too unstable, she was locked in the castle and kept in one of its rooms.

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Trees and undergrowth have started to take over the building in Roscoe, New York. The site dates back more than a hundred years

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Vandals have covered many of the walls of the buildings interior with graffiti while paint is rapidly peeling off the walls 

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Forgotten: Eerie pictures show one of the abandoned bathrooms with mould and dirt building up on the tiled floor

These stories are supported by visitors to the mansion claiming that some of the rooms had fingernail scratches on the inside of the door from Josephine's efforts to escape.

However there is little evidence to support this or indeed that anyone ever actually lived in the enigmatic keep.

After the family's demise it was used for short-term endeavours. For a time, it was used as a summer camp for children, before being purchased by the area's Masonic chapter as a retreat. 

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The mansion had been fitted out with fireplaces and radiators but was abandoned and is slowly crumbling in a New York forest 

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Unloved: Graffiti now covers the walls of the abandoned building, which can be found in the forests of New York 

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Pictures show one of the upper floor bedrooms of the mansion. It is thought that no-one ever ended up living at the home

A bath, sink, toilet and radiator are all that remain of this tiled bathroom. The castle was built for a family during the 1920s

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FROZEN IN TIME

Spooky chateau lies abandoned in the French countryside with paintings strewn on the floors and animal heads left behind 

•  A photographer from Le Havre took these stunning images in northern France of an abandoned mansion
•  'France has an architectural heritage that is most impressive and I find it pitiful to see it die away,' he said

A spooky statue with half its face missing is among the creepy items found in an abandoned mansion in the French countryside.

The haunting pictures show how belongings have been strewn around in the bedrooms and art has been taken from the walls and dumped on the floor. 

Another image provides insight into the owner's hobbies as a dusty piano takes pride of place in a room surrounded by brightly coloured sofas.

Faceless horror: This bust may be a priceless antiquity but to most onlookers it is simply creepy

It is one of a series of oddball items found inside the mansion, which is somewhere in northern France

The images were taken by a photographer from Le Havre in northern France, who calls himself Urbex, but he has refused to reveal its secret location for fear of encouraging ghoulish treasure hunters.

Urbex said: 'I like discovering little hidden treasures that most people do not know about or do not take the time to admire.

'France has an architectural heritage that is most impressive and I find it pitiful to see it die away.  

'Once I'm inside the place I try to soak up the atmosphere that reigns there and then I try to portray this feeling into my images.'

Art is dumped on the floor, a suitcase lies on the bed, along with curtains and lampshades. The room's history is a mystery

The owner of the mansion was obviously something of a hunter, because the skulls of various wild beasts adorn one wall

The mansion is clearly an impressive building with ornate staircases and tiling

The owner of the mansion has left behind an old grand piano, complete with some rather worn-out but colourful sofas

The owner clearly had fairly eclectic tastes, with the greatest example being this spooky statue

Little is known of the mansion's history or its owner but they were obviously at one time fabulously wealthy

In the winter the mansion is presumably cold and very hard to heat, which may explain why it was abandoned

The outside of the mansion is overgrown and unkempt but it is easy to imagine the chateau being refurbished and turned into a luxury hotel

HAUNTING ABANDONED ITALIAN VILLA

• Haunting images of the villa, in Italy's Marche region, were captured by Dutch photographer Maikel Brands
• The 37-year-old said that he loves photographing decaying buildings because ‘they breathe history’
• He said: 'It’s sad to see these old buildings go to waste. I want to capture them before there’re gone forever'

The pool parties at this villa must have quite splendid.

The setting is stunning and the property magnificent.

Or at least, it used to be.

These haunting images, by 37-year-old Dutch photographer Maikel Brands, reveal how the villa’s glamorous days are long over, because the building, in the Marche region, lies abandoned, with nature reclaiming the pool and the insides looking more spooky than spectacular.

Brands, from Tilburg, who regularly posts his pictures to Facebook, told MailOnline Travel that he loves photographing decaying buildings because ‘they breathe history’.

He added: ‘It’s sad to see some of these old buildings go to waste. I want to capture them before there’re gone forever.’  

Dutch photographer Maikel Brands captured this Italian villa in a series of haunting images

The villa's pool-partying days are well and truly over, with nature reclaiming the once-glamorous feature

'Every morning this chandeleir is embraced by the sun,' Brands said

Brands was impressed by the amount of ornamental detail in the bathroom

'The paintings on the wall and ceiling in the master bedroom are amazing,' Brands said

The ornate patterns in the bannister design seriously impressed Brands

Brands said that he could spend all day gazing at this ornate ceiling

Brands said that the villa is in the Marche region of Italy. Its exterior is now tatty and stained

Decaying: Wallpaper is peeling away by this once-grand staircase

The interior designers paid a great deal of attention to the fixtures in the villa, as this image shows

The villa would once have been a great place for entertaining. Brands said: 'It’s sad to see some of these old buildings go to waste. I want to capture them before there’re gone forever'

This fireplace is 'pure luxury', Brands said. The 37-year-old publishes his work under the name Vacant Photography

In this photograph of the spiral stairs and ceiling above, just fleetingly, the sprawling villa looks as good as new.