In 1995, the Great House was abandoned and in ruins.
The Destruction of Collinwood was an event triggered by the ghost of Gerard Stiles in 1970, who had returned from the grave to claim Collinwood as his own.
1995[]
Upon escaping from Parallel Time in 1970, Barnabas Collins and Julia Hoffman were inadvertently transported 25 years into the future, to 1995. (1061) The two quickly discovered that Collinwood was in ruins and had been abandoned many years earlier. As they searched for clues, Barnabas and Julia discovered that Carolyn Stoddard, Quentin Collins, and Mrs. Johnson were still alive, but had all gone insane and refused to talk about a disaster that occurred in 1970. Eventually, Mrs. Johnson did reveal that David Collins had died as a result of the disaster. Residents of Collinsport also refused to discuss what had happened, and most of them would shudder in fear from just hearing the name "Collins".
Barnabas and Julia soon discovered that there were four spirits living at Collinwood: Gerard Stiles, Daphne Harridge, Tad Collins, and Carrie Stokes. All four had lived at Collinwood in the early 19th century, but Barnabas was unable to learn anything about them after he discovered that all history books of the Collins family from that time period had been mysteriously destroyed.
Carolyn finally agreed to tell Barnabas everything that happened in 1970 and asked him to meet her at Collinwood, but Barnabas found her dead in the drawing room when he arrived. (1069) However, she did leave a note, which detailed six events that occurred before the Destruction of Collinwood took place:
- The Night of the Sun and the Moon (1075)
- The night Rose Cottage was destroyed (1104)
- The unfinished horoscope (1081)
- The night I sang my song (1094)
- Picnic (1077)
- Murder (1109)
1970[]
Barnabas and Julia returned to their proper time of 1970 via the stairway into time, but were unsuccessful in their attempts to stop the disaster. One by one, each of the events from Carolyn's list took place, most of which caught Barnabas and Julia by surprise, or went unnoticed.
- The Night of the Sun and the Moon was an eclipse, and when it was completed, a secret playroom became accessible in Collinwood's west wing. The playroom was a common location where Gerard would appear.
- On the night Rose Cottage was destroyed, Gerard attempted to lure both Barnabas and Julia to the house to kill them, but they managed to escape.
- An unfinished horoscope was in reference to Sebastian Shaw deciding not to finish Carolyn's horoscope, feeling that she only wanted a horoscope to get to know him better. Sebastian knew there was a disaster coming, but was forced to keep it a secret by Roxanne Drew.
- Carolyn, who cannot sing, became possessed by Leticia Faye and sang to Julia.
- During a picnic, David took a picture of Quentin and Maggie Evans, and Gerard's face appeared in the corner of the picture.
- On Collinwood's final night, Gerard murdered David, Hallie Stokes, and Daphne in the playroom. At the time, David and Hallie were possessed by Tad and Carrie, respectively.
Prior to the final event taking place, Gerard waved a green flag out the window in the tower room, and dozens of zombies rose from their graves and began to destroy Collinwood. Julia escaped to 1840 by returning to the stairway into time, but Barnabas was captured by the zombies.
1840[]
The destruction of Collinwood had its roots in 1840, when Gerard became possessed by Judah Zachery, an evil warlock who lived during the 17th century. Through trickery and deceit, the original Quentin Collins was disinherited, and Gerard became the master of Collinwood. Gerard, still under the possession of Judah, caused the deaths of many members of the family and added Daphne to his coven. It was never revealed how Gerard died in the unaltered 1840 timeline.
After fleeing the zombie attack in 1970, Julia found herself in the year 1840. Barnabas eventually joined her through the I Ching (although it was never mentioned how Barnabas escaped the destruction of Collinwood). Barnabas and Julia, with the help of Professor Stokes, were able to successfully change the course of history, as Desmond Collins shot Gerard, who was forgiven by Quentin before he died.
1971[]
Barnabas, Julia, and Professor Stokes returned to the present day through the stairway into time and found that everything had returned to normal: Collinwood was never destroyed, David and Hallie were alive and well, and the ghosts of Gerard and Daphne had never haunted the estate.