Deep within the woods of the rich suburbia of Montville New Jersey lay a dormant monster, that has attracted adventure goers and Urban Explorers for years. She stands proudly (altho now a little charred) upon her hill protected only by the cover of the trees. The locals refer to this massive structure as Pine Brook, the former Hill Top Care Center. She has been abandoned and sitting vacant since 1996, attracting only those brave souls daring enough to explore her five floors of hell. Sadly all this changed on the quaint night of August 25 2006. That night a bunch of hooligans entered the property and started a fire, which quickly spread to all five floors engulfing the building. The next morning, to much surprise she still stood, although now terribly battle scared from the fire that engulfed her the night before.

Finally MY time had come to pay respect to what was left of her. Upon walking up the long abandoned drive way, no signs of the massive building could be seen, until I rounded the corner, and literarily out of no where, here massive skeleton stuck out against the sky. I was saddened with the sight of seeing such a magnificent structure charred, but at the same time thankful I had made it before the demolition crews. I quickly infiltrated the fence surrounding her and made my way inside to the second floor ( If you're confused I'm counting the basement as the first floor). The layout was quite simple, one long hallway with rooms on either side, two fire exits at either ends of the hallway and an elevator and main stairwell in the middle. I made my way in and out of every room safe enough to explore, snapping a few pictures here ant there while at the same time making sure not to fall through any unsafe floors. The fire damage was quite amazing, just about everything was burnt, only a few charred bed frames lay left in the rooms. I attempted to take a seat on a chair , but it obliterated into dust, this setting up the scene for an embarrassing fall on my ass.

Making my way up to the third floor, the layout was the same alto, the fire seemed to have spared this floor a bit more than all the others. Because so many things were left un-burnt, I was able to get a real sense at what the building might have looked like back in the day. Wooden paneling lined the hallway, and each room was complete with an intercom system a bed, couch, and a few chairs (still to unsafe to sit on). The wall paper had a classic 70's look and feel to it, even the way the bathrooms were tiled made me feel like I was stuck in the 1970's, all that was needed now was for some random black man to pop out and start whistling the Brady Bunch Tune. Needing to escape from the 70's I continued up to the last floor know by many as the fourth floor. This floor was totally destroyed by the fire, the roof had been completely burnt off, making everything exposed to the elements. Quickly deciding I was not in the mood for a unexpected five story fall, I high-tailed it back down to ground level.

I exited the building for a brief time to try to plan a way into the basement. Luckily for me there was a hole in one of the walls with the words "Basement and Titties This Way" spray painted above it. Thinking to myself what could be better than some boobs in a cold flooded basement I powered up my flashlight and made my way into the darkness. The temperature was quite enjoyable down here and the basement was completely unscaved by the fire. Upon my eyes becoming adjusted to the dark I was able to make out a pair of boobs,err... boilers, still complete with operation instructions, there were also a few unidentifiable pieces of machinery down here, possibly hot water heaters. Making my-way further into hell, I came across a room chock full of old USED needles! Not wanting to catch AIDS, I continued down a long pitch black echoing hallway, which led to... get this, a small pitch black echoing room. In front of me my flash light illuminated a cave cricket, and there was no way in hell I was going any further.

My final stop in the building led me to the pool, thankfully some genius labeled the pool "pool" with some spray paint, other wise I would have never guessed at what the structure was! The swimming hole was filled with christmas ornaments, a turd of four, and a "Danger No Diving Sign". As a matter of fact the deep end was still full with water, but I had forgotten my bathing suit. Starting to become a bit overwhelmed with the smell of mildew, I squeezed through a broken window and back out into civilization. Because I was susepted to the dark for so long, I was blinded by the light, and in return tripped over some debris landing on my ass (again), thankfully not damaging my camera. I took one last look at the structure, said my fair well and headed back home. I do not see the future of Hill Top being a bright one, as any-day now I can imagine demolition crews showing up tearing her down and replacing her with some bull shit Abercrombie & Finch or something. So all I can say is enjoy what is left, you can thank the fucking arsonists for that!