Took the Minis out for another flight using DJI Fly v1.4.12 and with Halloween this weekend figured I would take a visit to the infamous Carlile House in Grey Lynn, Auckland New Zealand. Built in 1866, the building originally opened as an orphanage and over the years went on to be used as a private secondary school, housing for prisoners on remand, headquarters for evangelical Christians and has been owned by the united church of Tonga since the 1970s. With its unmissable Italianate architecture, dark past and enigmatic presence in the area for generations there are varying urban legends one of a 1912 fire which killed 43 children in the blaze, Supposedly set by a neglected candle. Other versions of the story describe a nurse who was burnt to death in the fire while attempting to rescue the orphans and still haunts the building to this day. Although with no public records of the fire this suggests these stories of hauntings and the fire are fiction. perhaps just locals filling in the blanks for themselves or maybe spread by the owners to ward off intrigued locals from entering.
Having entered the building myself years ago I can testify it is an amazing yet very eerie place to explore. Unfortunately during winter in 2018 vandals entered the building and ripped up several of the around 130 year old floorboards and timber balustrades out of a stairwell and lit a fire which burnt out of control and caused significant damage to the interior of the building nobody was injured but the fire left the building unsafe to enter. After the fire, razor wire fences were installed and all the doors secured. Recognized as a historic place by Heritage New Zealand in December 2011 now in October 2021 valued at $5.8m it remains decaying and crumbling while the owners and local council continue trying to reach an agreement regarding the future or the building.
Having entered the building myself years ago I can testify it is an amazing yet very eerie place to explore. Unfortunately during winter in 2018 vandals entered the building and ripped up several of the around 130 year old floorboards and timber balustrades out of a stairwell and lit a fire which burnt out of control and caused significant damage to the interior of the building nobody was injured but the fire left the building unsafe to enter. After the fire, razor wire fences were installed and all the doors secured. Recognized as a historic place by Heritage New Zealand in December 2011 now in October 2021 valued at $5.8m it remains decaying and crumbling while the owners and local council continue trying to reach an agreement regarding the future or the building.
