20 Haunting Mansions Left To Rot After Being Forgotten By Their Millionaire Owners
It’s often said of celebrities that they have more money than sense. And these 20 famous and loaded folk — ranging from business magnates to rockers — certainly give credence to that argument. Indeed, the people featured on this list left or outright abandoned huge mansions and cottages, often in shocking states of disrepair and squalor. Just because they could afford it. You won’t believe what happened to Mike Tyson’s mansion!
20. Courtney Love’s crumbling ‘cottage’
Hole frontwoman Courtney Love’s former mansion became, ahem, a bit of a hole after being left abandoned for years. The widow of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain purchased the three-bedroom, seven-acre cottage in rural Olympia, Washington, for a little under $450,000. That was back in 1995 — 12 months after her husband’s untimely death at the age of 27. But the once-lavish home fell into a state of disrepair.
Hit by a tornado?
Until it was bought in 2018 the cottage was notable for the mess it was in. Pictures captured from the outside showed just how derelict it had become, with crumbling weatherboarding, graffiti and debris scattered around. The guesthouse looked as though it had been hit by a tornado and the barn resembled something akin to a drug den. Inside, the place had been ransacked, with no flooring, more graffiti and litter scattered everywhere. Let’s hope those who bought it have improved it a bit!
19. Ken Norman’s rural ruins
Former NBA forward Ken Norman earned himself some big paychecks, and acquired this mansion in the small village of Flossmoor, Illinois, in 1989 for a cool $430,000. Norman built extensively around the luxury five-bedroom home on South Kedzie Avenue, including adding a basketball court and an indoor swimming pool. But the residence would eventually wind up abandoned, surrounded by tall grass and sprayed in ugly graffiti. You see, the Los Angeles Clippers star’s financial problems caught up with him and he had to put it on the market.
Strange Places
Inside the mansion, things had deteriorated just as much. The YouTube channel Strange Places showed the level of disrepair in 2018, with graffiti, cracked tiles, broken glass and trash all scattered around the interior. The original fireplace remains. But even the real estate agent in charge of selling Norman’s old crib gave a warning to potential buyers that year. They noted that it was “in need of repairs throughout” and that there was “severe mold in [the] property,” even writing, “Enter at your own risk!” Oh dear!
