An antique matchbook on photographer Pablo Iglesias Maurer’s desk grabbed his eye not long ago. r rather, it was the postcard-like picture on it, of a resort complex built in the 1960s. It got Pablo wondering how the then famous landmark looked now, and the answer has led him to make an amazing photo series called the Abandoned States.
The old photograph was titled How to Run a Successful Golf Course, but when Maurer arrived to Penn Hills Resort, it was evident that the owner had ignored that advice. He created a ‘5-decades-after’ image of the abandoned place by pointing the camera at it in nearly the same area.
Pablo has been addicted ever since. He went around the country, capturing these once beautiful buildings from old photos that now stand abandoned only as faint memories of what once was, ordering more 1960s photo postcards from eBay and starting to go around the country, capturing these once beautiful buildings from old photos that now stand abandoned only as faint memories of what once was.
“There’s a haze to old postcards—the destinations were never as wonderful as they appear.” I, too, have trouble getting the two photos to line up. Time, on the other hand, blurs the distinctions and brings everything into sharper focus.”
More info: Twitter, DCist (h/t: Ufunk)
#1
Grossinger’s outdoor pool, Olympic sized, built-in 1949 at a cost of $400,000 (about $5 million in today’s market.) Long gone are the private cabanas, changing room and lounges that used to surround it.
#2
Grossinger’s indoor pool in action. The tiled floor was heated, and the entire building was cooled. The swimmers below are bathed in the glow of stunning mid-century “sputnik” chandeliers. There are training facilities, a gym, a salon, and a variety of other amenities beneath the pool. The pool has been abandoned since the late 1990s and is beyond repair.
#3
The browns and reds and oranges of this Poconos dining hall’s carpet have turned green, the color of the moss that’s taken its place.
#4
The Homowack Lodge now sits abandoned on the southern edge of the famed “Borscht Belt.” On its lower level, maybe the highlight of the place, a four-lane Brunswick bowling alley. It has seen better days. The resort closed in the mid-2000’s but lived on briefly, first as a Hasidic resort and lastly as the site of a summer camp—one which was forced to shut down after the NY Department of Environmental Conservation deemed it uninhabitable.
#5
Grossinger’s tennis center is located inside. Grossinger’s rye bread, a local favorite during the resort’s operation, is advertised on the back of the postcard. “The joy and fresh air folks experience here at Grossinger’s certainly gives them an appetite,” says resort princess Jenny Grossinger. They adore all of our meals, but our Grossinger’s rye and pumpernickel bread is a particular favorite. This same nutritious, tasty bread is now available at your local grocery shop. Try a loaf of bread. I’m confident you’ll enjoy it.”
#6
#7
Sunbathing and swimming in the Poconos. Postmarked, 1967. “Dear Jonnie: If you were only here, I would take you out for a horse-back ride – or else we could go golfing. Be good until I see you. Dr. Waterman.”
#8
After a fire destroyed the main structure at this Poconos resort in the early 1970s, a replacement was built. A contemporary spacecraft nestled up deep in the woods is a very remarkable sight.
#9
The indoor pool at Grossinger’s, which opened in 1958. Elizabeth Taylor attended the pool’s opening, and Florence Chadwick – the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions – took the first dip in it. From Ross Padluck’s excellent “Lost Architecture of Paradise”: “…The new indoor pool at Grossinger’s was the zenith of the Catskills. Nothing quite like it had ever been built, and nothing ever would be again. It represented everything about the Catskills in the 1950s-style: extravagance, luxury, modernism and celebrity.”
#10
The caption on the back of this Pocono resort’s postcard touts this theater as the “resort world’s most modern showplace.” With a capacity of 1200, it remains splendorous even in disrepair. This postcard is also postmarked, and filled out. “Having a lovely weekend here. All pleasure – only exercise is rowing a boat and playing shuffleboard! Nice to be lady-like and not “rushing” about! We will see you soon.”
#11
A now-defunct Poconos resort’s cocktail lounge. On the back of the card, the inscription reads, “Peaceful rest — healthy recreation.”
#12
#13
“Swim n’ Sun Indoor Swimming Pool at Penn Hills Lodge and Cottages” is written on the inside of the matchbook. “The Finest Modern Resort in the Poconos.”
#14
The Mies van der Rohe-inspired “Jenny G Wing” was one of the last structures built at Grossinger’s, opening in 1964. It was built by renowned architect Morris Lapidus, who nearly single-handedly established the “Miami Modern” appearance in hotels and designed the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Washington, D.C.
#15
Stairs lead down to an abandoned theater in the Poconos. The curtain last fell here sometime in the early 90’s
#16
A lane attendant at the Homowack lodge in the Catskills.
#17
Looking down the side of that same 70’s structure. “Ultra-modern building houses the dining room, cocktail lounge, lobbies and offices.”
#18
A residential building at a Poconos resort sits in disrepair. On the back of the postcard: “Dear Bernie – Don’t think we forgot you – but we’re having such a grand time that post cards are a chore! This is the life & the place & the people are grand. We couldn’t be happier or have more fun. See you soon! Love, Lou & Shiela.
#19
A residential building at a Poconos resort sits in disrepair. On the back of the postcard: “Dear Bernie – Don’t think we forgot you – but we’re having such a grand time that post cards are a chore! This is the life & the place & the people are grand. We couldn’t be happier or have more fun. See you soon! Love, Lou & Shiela.
