Between sites was the famous town of Hinkley. Nestled in the plains of the Mojave, a small villa sat abandoned, awaiting a quick explore.
The History
If you’ve seen the movie Erin Brockovich, you know the history of this town. The local energy company was using Hexavalent Chromium to prevent corrosion of a cooling tower, with the cooling water dumped into an unlined pond, that in turn seeped into the local ground water. Hexavalent Chromium is a carcinogen and genotoxic, and soon enough, the local people who drank the artesian water began developing cancers and birth defects occurred in children. While the people won a massive litigation in 1996 for $333 million, the down of Hinkley has more or less dried up with only a few die hard survivors staying in the town.
The villa I explored is a single family home that contains 1,305 sq ft on a 2.17 acre property and was built in 1955. It contains 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. This home last sold for $17,000 in August 1994. According to a property valuation website, the house is now worth $87,712, which has increased by $3,427 in the last 30 days. My urbex visit to the house was obviously adding value 🙂
The Explore
As I was passing between the water park and the next location, a brief stop in Hinkley to stretch the legs seemed like a good idea. The local school shuttered in 2013 with other businesses closing since then. While those locations were obviously locked, this villa appeared to be an easy explore. The energy company in question is buying up the land in Hinkley as soon as it becomes available, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this will be knocked down at some point, though judging from the condition of the house, it probably wouldn’t be a bad thing.
The Photos
Leave a Reply