Take a look inside an abandoned 'clown house,' an eerie home one photographer says he'll never forget

Bryan Sansivero has spent years photographing abandoned buildings across the US. He's explored deserted hospitals, stepped inside homes frozen in time, and even published a book of his haunting photographs, "American Decay: Inside America's Forgotten Homes."

Sansivero estimates he's been to hundreds of abandoned houses. Not every home is worth photographing, he told Insider, and not every one is ingrained in his memory.

But a house in Catskills, New York, is one of the most unique homes he said he's explored due to its circus-themed rooms.

"I've never found a house where each room is so different than the previous room in terms of full-on color, the decay, and the overall look," he said.

A house with flaking wallpaper, vibrant colors, and an odd clown theme started popping up on Sansivero's Instagram feed in 2019.

Nicknamed the "Catskill Clown House" online, it was the perfect combination of Sansivero's interests.

It was eerie, unfamiliar, creepy, and colorful — everything he's drawn to, he told Insider.

Sansivero said he knew he wanted to photograph it, but first, he needed to find the address. After reaching out to other urban explorers, he eventually tracked down the house's location and headed to Catskills, New York, to photograph the house.

When Sansivero first arrived at the house, he parked his car on the street and started walking up the home's long driveway.

When Sansivero reached the house, he said he realized it was much larger than he envisioned.

Crawling up its walls were vines, and the front yard was teeming with weeds and overgrowth.

Formerly a winery, the property had overgrown grapevines and other buildings he would later explore.

While Sansivero could tell the house was influenced by older architecture, he said it had a surprisingly modern appearance.

When he stepped inside, he came across even more surprises.

After his first few steps inside the mansion, Sansivero said he realized the house was much more unusual than he envisioned.

"The house blows your expectations," he said. "Every single room in the house is something you want to photograph."

Sansivero said there were at least four bedrooms, and a dilapidated playset outside leads him to believe that the mansion was once home to a family with children.

Sansivero said he thinks the circus-themed room was a child's bedroom because of its smaller size and playful patterns.

Look up and the circus inspiration continued. A tent was painted across the ceiling of the bedroom.

"Those are very dedicated parents," Sansivero said referring to how committed the circus theme was throughout the room.

Another bedroom on the second story had a bright orange color splashed across its walls.

Blue paint had chipped off of the ceiling and was scattered across the floor.

The second floor's bathroom continued with the theme. Bright red paint peeled from the walls, which were once clean-cut stripes mimicking a circus tent.

Inside the main bedroom, there was more color, Sansivero said.

Chipping away on a wall inside one closet is a painting of a bullfighter.

Sansivero said it became clear that no one had lived in the home for years.

While the majority of the home had bright hues of pink, purple, and yellow, the library took on a darker style.

From the floor to the ceiling, the room was covered in dark wood — except for one wall that had a nature scene painted onto it.

"All of the sudden you're in this muted room," he said. "And then you turn around and there's this crazy painted wall."

Sansivero said he knew this place was unique and unlikely to remain in the same condition for long.

Each time Sansivero visited, things around the house had been moved or relocated, and he said he feared that other trespassers would graffiti the walls or potentially ruin the home.

Before that could happen, Sansivero was committed to getting his perfect shots.

"I shot it, and then I was like, 'Oh shoot, I didn't get this shot' or 'I could get this shot better,'" he said.

So Sansivero went back again and again, each time, perfecting his images.

Inside the kitchen, Sansivero said he found a piece of paper that showed the house was for sale with the name of a realtor.

Jotted on the sheet of paper was each time the realtor visited the home. The last date was marked 2017, he said.

Sansivero guessed that the owners gave up trying to sell the house in 2017, and it sat abandoned for years after.

When Sansivero looks back at the images, he said there's a sense of sadness.

It was clear the abandoned house was once loved.

"There's a sense of loss," he said. "That sense that there was once life here and now there's not."

Since photographing the home, Sansivero said he's learned that it's sold.

He can't imagine the decay was repairable, so he said it's unlikely the home looks similar to how he photographed it.

Ultimately, he said he's happy the once-loved space has welcomed life again.