Mystery Houses near San Gregorio

The Mystery Houses near San Gregorio


Slightly north of the San Gregorio beach in California is a small ravine made by water runoff that leads to the coast. A few decades ago, people used to inhabit this area, occupying some very small, one-room cottages.  For whatever reasons, these dwellings were abandoned, and allowed to become swallowed by the ivy and other plantlife.  Now the occasional cottage roof peeks through the plant cover, as an invitation to see nature in the process of taking over the ephemeral creations of mankind.

My visit to this area involved a lot of climbing and hiking through areas not only choked with crawling ivy plants, but also some kind of poison oak, which later caused some rather itchy blisters.  My progress through these hilly, plant-choked areas would have been greatly aided with a machete.  It is probably through the remoteness of these dwellings that they have been fairly untouched by vandals, as the buildings show very few signs of the violence that so many abandoned sites do.  Although the presence of artifacts was rare, the structures showed good signs of preservation, without the usual shattered glass, smashed wood and profuse grafitti that one would expect from a place left to will of the elements.

There were 5 cottages in total, one of which was destroyed, another knocked on its side into a sinkhole or pond, and the other 3 which were left to rot in peace.  It seems that the ivy plants feel quite at home in these little houses, sending their vines through the broken windows and open doorways.  Despite the fact that this site wasn't really that far away from the road, the cottages were still camouflaged sufficiently to give the visitor a sense of peace and timelessness. 

 

 

copyright 2006, Eric W. Bragg

 
 
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This is how the area looks from the road. Just look at that inviting little house!
To get from the highway to the house required traversing some areas that had become sunken in certain spots. In fact, there were a few fissures subtly covered with weeds, but potentially dangerous to the unwary ankle. In the foreground of this shot, you can see one of these sunken patches of land. Notice the dysfunctional electrical pole in the far background.
Here is a frontal view of the house that was seen from the road. For the sake of convenience, this structure is now referred to as "house #1"
What the inside of the cottage looked like. A one-room paradise of green. There were very few objects left behind. Although the place was gutted, there weren't any signs of obvious vandalism or grafitti.
Another view of house #1. On the floor between the red door and the leaning table was a curious brick slab with some rusted pruning shears on it.
A serrated tool, completely rusted, on top of the leaning table.
This was the most intact sink out of all the cottages in this strange little ravine.
Another view of the interior of house #1.
There's that brick slab with the garding tool on top.
I tried moving the slab, in the hopes of discovering a gothic subterranean passageway, but alas, the slab was fixed in place.
Roughly ten yards away were the ruins of house #2. The roof had completely collapsed.
Various debris from the collapsed cottage.
And there were a few items associated with this house that were still standing.
An old bottle of nail polish. Over time, the solvent had evaporated, leaving a thick wad of colored gunk at the bottom. A veritable treasure.
House #3 is on the right, and in the lower left corner is a completely intact potted plant, that appeared to be thriving, as if its civilized neighbors had never decayed the way they did.
The potted plant looked odd, being the only item that seemed immune to the elements.
A newspaper from May 1988. Surprisingly intact after 18 years, this newspaper had managed to survive the elements.
Looking backward, another view of house #1.
House #3 is on the left, and House #4 (completely covered in ivy) is on the right, in the distance. A nice view of the shore.
The front of house #3, possibly the most intact structure at this site.
Another view of house #3, as it presided over a hill covered with a thick mat of ivy. Traversing over this "mat" was a challenge, in that it was necessary to avoid falling through unseen holes in the ivy coverage.
A close-up of house #3.
Inside of house #3. A curiously painted window, taken down from wherever it was originally placed.
Another interior shot of house #3. The finger of vine mockingly points to places where houseplants were once kept....
House #4 is on the left. Off in the distance is the shore.
An exterior view of house #4. Look at all of those vines!
Inside house #4. This was the only cottage to have the remains of a stove.
I like this view of the stove area because of the holes above. They almost look like a constellation of stars, or arrangement of planets.
A spectacular view of nature as it insidiously creeps into the dwellings of mankind!
More creeping going on....
Looking out of the window in house #4. A view of some spraypainted concrete structures, maybe used to dam the flow of water into the ocean? These concrete structures were a mystery. An alternative explanation is that the concrete possibly served as the support structures for a bridge that no longer exists, that spanned the stream leading into the ocean.
A close-up of the concrete.
An old bottle of "legra", a drink that I've never even heard of. There were plants growing inside of the bottle.
A displaced sink found outside of house #4, now a drain for pine needles.
An external view of house #4, as it precariously leans over a steep cliff. In the nearest windows, you see the marks made by an animals claws, possibly scratching at the window FROM THE INSIDE.
A view of the ocean, and the water runoff.
This was as far as I could go. I was on a cliff surrounded by stinging plants and steep drops, so I turned around and went back the way I came. Off in the distance is the tantalizing view of a secluded beach with sheer cliffs. Truly the place of dreams.
On the way back, I took a sligtly different route and found the remains of house #5. This structure had managed to fall over into a ditch, onto its side. Surrounding the fallen house was a marshy pond area which didn't look very inviting for explorers.
Another view of house #5.
Looking down into house #5, I could see a flimsy ladder that led down. I didn't feel like taking my chances on a flimsy ladder made of rotting wood, so I said farewell to this magical site and returned to civilization, bringing along with me a good case of poison oak. Yikes.