Discovered this place by accident when crawling Google Satellite looking for The Cranes. The story goes, the owner purchased the property and began building a mansion using lava rock imported from Hawaii. Supposedly the stones were cursed and caused the project to ultimately fail. Since the 70s, the partially built house and it’s extravagant gardens have been sitting entertaining visitors. I really like this spot. The views are breathtaking, and despite being in a densely packed suburb, the plot of land feels secluded. It has the perfect combination of nature, a view, and man made objects to make you just wanna stay and hang out. I’ve read that the owner doesn’t care if you trespass, (i.e. won’t press charges), because he believes the view should be shared. Of course, local authority still cares. Oh, and there’s a Swampy here!

November 23, 2013 at 1:31 pm | Urban Ex