Old House at Collinwood

The  has become a formalized name referring to the original home of the Collins family in the mythos of the Dark Shadows television series. The Old House is one of the central settings in the series, second only to the main estate of Collinwood. The Old House has also made appearances in the 1991 Dark Shadows revival series as well as numerous novels and comic book adaptations. A variant incarnation of the Old House was also featured in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows. Though several people have taken up residence in the Old House throughout the course of the series, the 17th century mansion is classically known as the home of Barnabas Collins.

Description
The Old House was once the provincial mansion of the Collins family up until the late 18th century. Located on the Collins estate near Widows' Hill, it was formally known as the first Collinwood. Joshua Collins was the patriarch of the last generation of Collins family members to be raised there. In 1796, construction was completed on a larger family home on the same property and this would soon come to be known as the "Great House" at Collinwood. After which, the original family mansion began to be referred to simply as the Old House. With the passing of generations, this off-hand phrase became the official nomenclature for the regal estate.

In the year 1897, two gypsies named Sandor and Magda Rakosi briefly squatted inside the Old House. They were the last known occupants of the home for the next sixty years

By the 1960s, the Collins family (under Elizabeth Collins Stoddard) had little interest in the maintenance of the home and the Old House fell into grave disrepair. Young David Collins frequently visited the ruins and regarded the house as a massive playground. He could often be found hanging about the dusty parlor talking to the Portrait of Josette Collins, which still hung above the mantle.

In 1967 the vampire, Barnabas Collins, petitioned Elizabeth Collins Stoddard to allow him to renovate the Old House. Elizabeth was reluctant at first, but soon gave Barnabas her blessing. With his unwilling servant, Willie Loomis, Barnabas moved into what was once his childhood home

Barnabas Collins and Victoria Winters once held a conversation comparing the Old House to the pyramids of Egypt. Barnabas gave a detailed description of the house's construction in which he said –


 * "The design and construction of this house represented a marriage of the elegance of Europe and the vigor and enterprise of a new world. The foundations were made from rocks left behind by glaciers, thousands of years ago. The beams and supports were cut from ancient local forests. The plaster walls were made from crushed clamshells and horsehair. Bricks were imported from Holland. That dusty chandelier - brought over from France - gleamed with hypnotic brilliance. That faded wallpaper was specially designed by a Belgian artist. The parquet floors were installed by an Italian craftsman. Cornices and moldings were the effort of a Spanish craftsman. It was a house to be envied by a prince. But in spite of all this, the total effort was an agony to man. Men were driven to their limits. What should have been an act...a labor of love – became a hateful thing. There were the crippled and the dead. Like the pyramids, one could ask…was it worth it?"

Points of Interest

 * Parlor: The parlor was the main living area of the Old House and was located just off the foyer, to the left when entering the building. For many years the portrait of Josette Collins hung above the mantle in the parlor, but after Barnabas Collins began his renovations in 1967, the portrait was replaced with a newly painted portrait of himself.


 * Basement: The entrance to the basement was located just behind the central staircase. This was where Barnabas maintained his coffin for quite some time during the late 20th century when he was still a vampire. Behind the brick facade of the basement were the skeletal remains of Reverend Trask, whom Barnabas had walled up in 1795. The ghost of Reverend Trask would later return to torment Barnabas, avenging his own death by having Barnabas walled up behind the bricks in his place. The basement was also where Barnabas and Julia Hoffman kept Adam chained up during his brief stay at the Old House.


 * Josette's room: In 1795, this was Josette DuPres' bedroom where she stayed briefly prior to her wedding to Jeremiah Collins. In 1967, Barnabas Collins refurbished the room, restoring it to its original condition, including all of Josette's perfectly preserved belongings including her wedding gown, hair brush and other toiletries. The portrait of Josette, which was formerly hung above the mantle in the downstairs parlor, was moved into the refurbished room. Barnabas abducted a local woman named Maggie Evans, whom he believed to be the reincarnation of his lost Josette and held her captive in the bedroom. Through his hypnotic powers, he even convinced Maggie that she was Josette for some time. Maggie eventually escaped, but with the help of Doctor Julia Hoffman, possessed no memories of her time as Barnabas' prisoner.


 * Secret room: A small secret room existed behind a book shelf in the parlor on the interior wall adjacent to the mantle. In 1796, Ben Stokes hid fugitives Peter Bradford and Victoria Winters inside this secret room shortly after they had escaped from jail.

House of Dark Shadows
The Old House is the original family mansion of the Collins family of Collinsport, Maine. Located on the grounds of the greater Collinwood estate, it housed the family until the construction of the second great house in the early 1800's.

In 1797, Joshua Collins, patriarch of the Collins family, awarded possession of the Old House to his son, Barnabas Collins. Barnabas spent little time there as head of the household before a curse was placed upon him, turning him into a blood-sucking, vampire. Joshua Collins, unwilling to destroy his only son, decided to chain him up in a coffin and seal him away for all time in a secret room in the Collins family mausoleum. By the time Joshua Collins passed away, the Old House was no longer being used. It fell into disrepair and by the late 20th century, it was practically falling apart.

In June of 1970, Barnabas Collins awakened and left his crypt to rejoin the modern Collins family. He asked the head of the household, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard for permission to move into the Old House. Upon doing so, he employed several workers (not always through reputable means), including Willie Loomis in an effort to restore Old House to its original condition. Eventually however, Barnabas’ vampiric nature became known and he was chased away from the Old House and ultimately destroyed. The Old House fell into disrepair again and was unoccupied by the time Quentin Collins inherited the Collinwood properties.

Notes & Trivia
Exterior still shots of the Old House were actually photographs of 'Veruselle', the mansion residence of Russell Hopkins in Irvington, New York. The mansion was located on the Lyndhurst estate, which was also used for filming the Collinwood scenes for both the House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows feature films. Although no scenes were actually filmed at the Irvington mansion, there is at least one promotional photo of Jonathan Frid standing atop the balcony of the building taken at some point prior to 1969 when the mansion burned down, leaving behind only trace remains of the foundation. Interior scenes of the Old House were filmed at ABC-TV studios in New York.