Paris apartment untouched for 70 years

[Belladonna]

I came across this story while wandering the Internet yesterday. It is as if a huge time capsule has been opened. Unfortunately the article left me with SO many questions - like were the taxes being paid, what do the neighbors think about who lived there, did the home owners association equivalent think it weird there was no one there and why didn't she or a family member return?? and lots more. Would make a great book!


www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323297/Inside-Paris-apartment-untouched-70-years-Treasure-trove-finally-revealed-owner-locked-fled-outbreak-WWII.html

[holger]

I seem to recall something about the apartment several months ago in article about having to update it for eventual sale. Yes, this would make a wonderful book. Wonder why the granddaughter fled and where she was till her death. To leave all those family possessions behind even after WWII ended is a mystery.

[Jody]

That apt. looked beautiful even after so many years How could anyone leave those wonderful things behind and forgoten??

[PariS]

I've seen this place in the news off and on for a year or so--totally incredible!! It seems one article said the woman lived in a nursing home for years, and she did keep up on the taxes and all, so no one really bothered her. There's another similar place in the Place des Voges, but it was found out by squatters. They say there are many apartments in Paris that have been vacant for years. So sad!!

[Belladonna]

That is amazing Annette. I can't imagine being in the heart breaking situation of having to abandon my house but one never knows.

[sunshine817]

Living in a hurricane zone, we've had to pack up and evacuate, knowing that we may return to an empty foundation (happily, it's not happened yet...). It's weird - you somehow come to grips with the fact that you've ensured that the family will be safe, and you have things like legal documents, wedding pictures, etc....it's amazing how much isn't important when you're limited to the capacity of a couple of cars of stuff you can take with you.

What I can't wrap my head around is why she never returned...if she continued to pay the taxes, she knew all of it was still there (unless the taxes were being paid by a trust, and she just had enough money that the taxes were a blip on the radar?) or she didn't just sell it.

[cybee]

Quite fascinating. Lovely apartment. I notice the paintings are down from the wall and set out....I wonder if the paintings were left like that and if so, why. Yes, seems that after the threat was gone, the occupant would have returned to such a lovely place. Would be such fun to see in person...such lovely things, albeit dusty!

[PariS]

I bet they took them down for the inventory they were working on when the photos were taken.

[cherryadairr]

An artwork found in the lost Parisian apartment has sold for almost £1.8 million ... abandoned at the outbreak of World War II and left untouched in the ... as it would have done 70 years ago when its occupants fled Paris for the ...