- A New York tycoon’s dream mansion became his final resting place on the very night of its completion.
- King Fahd’s Spanish palace saw its royal owner only four times before being left to decay.
- Pablo Escobar’s holiday estate, once a fortress where billions were counted, now stands as a bomb-ravaged ruin.
Every mega-mansion is a story crafted with marble, drenched in gold, and designed to stand the test of time. But instead of hosting grand parties and generations of heirs, some of these mansions now sit in eerie silence with their once-spotless halls covered in dust.
From a billionaire’s dream home that turned into his final resting place to the ruins of infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar’s holiday estate, these forgotten mansions whisper tales of ambition, excess, and ultimate abandonment.
Carleton Island Villa (New York, USA)
In 1894, William O. Wyckoff moved into his recently built mansion on Carleton Island, in upstate New York. It had 11 bedrooms, with breathtaking waterfront views and was meant to be a peaceful retreat for him, but instead, it ended up becoming his final resting place when he died of a heart attack on his first night in the villa.
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After William’s death, the Wyckoff family struggled to maintain the home and by World War II, it was stripped for valuable materials and the mansion was left behind with pretty much nothing in it.
King Fahd’s Holiday Palace (Marbella, Spain)
When Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd wanted a European getaway, he didn’t settle for a penthouse and built his own palace in Marbella. The palace was inspired by the White House and was fit for royalty but despite its grandeur, Fahd only visited it four times. His longest stay in the palace was a seven-week extravaganza that brought in $80 million USD (~$125 million AUD) for the local economy.
After his death in 2005, the palace fell silent. The chandeliers still hang and the luxurious furniture still remains, but dust now covers the palace that was built for royalty.
Kawamoto’s Artistic Haven (Japan)
Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto had an unusual hobby of buying and then abandoning luxury properties. His Japanese mansion which was once filled with priceless art and statues, now looks like a set from a post-apocalyptic film. After his 2013 arrest for tax evasion, the property was abandoned and now eerie statues — over 100 of them — still remain in the basement, watching over a house that has been long forgotten.
Lynnewood Hall (Pennsylvania, USA)
Lynnewood Hall was once one of America’s most extravagant mansions and was built between 1897 and 1900 for Peter Arrell Browne Widener, a titan of industry. The estate had 110 rooms, 55 bedrooms, 20 bathrooms, an art gallery, and a ballroom that could host 1,000 guests. It cost the equivalent of $230 USD million (~$360 million AUD) today.
But tragedy struck when Widener’s eldest son and grandson died on the Titanic in 1912. With no one left to inherit it, Lynnewood Hall was abandoned in 1943. Over the years, priceless artworks were sold, and the grand mansion slowly crumbled. In 2023, preservationists bought it, hoping to restore it but for now, it remains a ghost of its former luxury.
The Pineheath House (Harrogate, England)
Built in the 1920s, Pineheath House was the elegant home of Sir Dhunjibhoy and Lady Bomanji who were British-Indian aristocrats that split their time between England and India. But when Lady Bomanji passed in 1986, the house was left untouched.
For nearly 40 years, her belongings remained exactly as they were — furniture, books and even personal letters collecting dust. Eventually, the estate was purchased in 2013, but after planning issues, revival of the mansion has been repeatedly delayed and the once-grand mansion remains frozen in the condition its last resident left it in.
Pablo Escobar’s La Manuela (Guatapé, Colombia)
If anyone lived extravagantly, it was Pablo Escobar. His 20-acre estate, La Manuela was named after his daughter and was the ultimate drug kingpin retreat with a private nightclub, secret tunnels and even stacks of cash hidden in the walls.
But in 1993, a vigilante group bombed the estate, reducing much of it to rubble. Eight months later, Escobar himself was gunned down by the authorities. Today, La Manuela is in ruin, overgrown with vegetation, and its helipad and pool are barely recognisable.
Swingers Tiki Palace (Tennessee, USA)
Back in the 1970s, nightclub owner Billy Hull built the ultimate party house that had a Playboy Bunny-shaped pool, secret tunnels, and rooms designed for, well, less-than-PG-rated activities. The “Swingers Tiki Palace” was the bachelor pad of the 70s, but Hull’s party was cut short when he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for tax evasion.
With no one left to keep the party going, the mansion fell into ruin. These days, the walls are covered in graffiti, the infamous pool is bone dry, and the only thing left of its previous glory are the echoes of nights no one ever talked about the next morning.
