Mysterious Mansions That Time Forgot
These spooky mansions, once the most opulent homes of their day, have suffered from the passage of time. Mother Nature has regained their once-grand hallways, and their magnificent façades are falling away in the breeze. These abandoned homes may be mere shadows of what they once were, but they contain intriguing histories that are just waiting to be discovered. If you know where to look, the ruins provide a wealth of information.
Seaview Terrace, Rhode Island, USA
This opulent building, known as Seaview Terrace, is situated in the city of Newport, Rhode Island, on a nearly eight-acre site with views of Sheep Point Cove and the North Atlantic Ocean. The 43,772-square-foot waterfront home, also known as the Carey Mansion, is the fifth-largest estate in the area, after The Breakers and Belcourt Castle. The house’s vastness is by no means its main draw, but…
Seaview Terrace, Rhode Island, USA
The opulent mansion was first built at Dupont Circle, Washington, DC, in 1900, before Edson Bradley, a rich whiskey distiller, purchased it. Bradley bought the property in 1907 and commissioned Howard Greenley, an architect, to refurbish and expand it. The house expanded to 16,000 square feet and occupied more than half a city block.
Seaview Terrace, Rhode Island, USA
A 500-seat theater, an art gallery, a private chapel with seating for 150 worshippers, and a sizable ballroom with elaborate décor were among its luxurious amenities. There was no money spared in the renovation of the opulent residence, which included the importation of many of the furniture pieces and interior fittings from France. The stone stairs and stained glass windows that adorn the inside of the 60-room palace are notable features, as are the ornate, hand-carved ceilings.
Seaview Terrace, Rhode Island, USA
Bradley’s house had a luxury finish, but he wasn’t happy with where it was, so in 1923 he made the decision to deconstruct it and transfer it to Newport. The difficult procedure, which lasted two years, even earned the property a spot in the museum Ripley’s Believe It or Not, which is devoted to the most extraordinary objects and events in history. The mansion is still among the biggest houses that have ever been taken apart, transported, and then put back together again.
Seaview Terrace, Rhode Island, USA
After moving, Bradley acquired the Elizabethan Revival mansion known as Sea View, and the two properties came to be known as Seaview Terrace. The estate, which spans two properties in one of Newport’s most coveted postcodes, is now the largest privately held residence in the city.
The enormous crib currently has 18 bathrooms, 29 bedrooms, a whispering gallery, and a two-story entry hall that is furnished with Medieval-style fittings. Despite the turmoil and the fact that the house has been vacant for some time, many of its original characteristics are still charmingly present. The most cherished architectural feature of the structure may be an early Renaissance stained glass window that was made for the Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy.
The old estate was left to Bradley’s daughter after he went away, and Martin Carey later bought it. It was most recently utilized by a local private institution, Salve Regina, and now requires substantial rehabilitation work. The pad was prominently utilized as a set setting for the daytime soap series Dark Shadows, and it was also featured on the Discovery Channel. If you’ve fallen in love with this wacky and fantastic mansion, it’s presently on the market through Edge Realty for $29.9 million (£22 million). But, it’s also been praised as (perhaps) the most haunted house currently for sale, so there may be a few more ghosts included!
Arlington, Mississippi, USA
This stately old antebellum home, constructed sometime between the early and mid-19th centuries, is nestled among overgrown property in Natchez, Mississippi, although it has seen better days. The abandoned estate, which Leland Kent photographed, was once a famous Southern Belle that attracted throngs of wealthy socialites to the lavish parties it held in its prime. Yet this opulent place has also seen its fair share of tragedy.
The full depth of the destruction is only revealed up close. With shattered windows and an exposed loft, Arlington, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, is fully exposed to the elements. Graffiti is painted on the redbrick exterior, and gnarled vines have encircled the magnificent double-height pillars.
Although the home’s history is a little murky, it’s possible that John Hampton White created the residence for his wife, Jane Surget White, sometime between 1816 and 1821. According to some versions, Jane herself or perhaps Jane’s French immigrant father, Pierre Surget, may have been the inspiration for the traditional style. Regardless of how it happened, the house briefly functioned as John and Jane’s married residence.
John Hampton White unfortunately passed away in a yellow fever outbreak in 1819, just before the estate was intended to be finished. Despite her sadness, Jane stayed in the house and furnished it with expensive items. Although the beautiful arched window above the entryway offers a hint as to the entrance hall’s past grandeur, it is difficult to fathom the splendor that would have welcomed guests there.
This vintage photograph, which is said to have been shot in the 1970s, shows some of Jane’s work that successive owners saved. The walls are covered in gilded artwork and embossed wallpaper, and a magnificent chandelier hovers over the entrance. Jane died in 1825, and the land changed ownership several times before being purchased by Annie and Hubert Barnum in the early 1900s.
The mansion was a beautiful country manor under Annie Barnham, an aristocratic matriarch who moved in the highest echelons of society, a far cry from its abandoned status now. Unfortunately, tragedy struck Arlington once more when Mrs. Barnham’s one-year-old granddaughter, Gwin, was tragically killed in an accident on the property. The opulent estate later went to Annie’s daughter Anne, who then gave it to her son Thomas Vaughan in the 1990s.
Disaster struck the home once more in September 2002 when a terrible fire decimated much of the roof and second story of the building. The once-grand house was left to rot and languish without insurance. There may yet be a happy ending to this terrible story since the City of Natchez has started legal action to seize possession of the estate and bring it back to its former splendor.
Mayfield House, County Waterford, Ireland
For the affluent Malcomson family, architect William Tinsley created this opulent Italianate palace in Waterford, Ireland, in the 1840s. They established Portlaw, a neighboring town, as a hub for the leather industry, replete with its own leather money. The JS Mulvany-designed tower was added later in 1857.
The exquisite majestic residence was built with no money spared. With elaborate stone fireplaces, lavish gilding, and elegant plasterwork, the interiors were exquisitely decorated. In fact, Mayfield was regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest rural estates during its prime.
The property, which was still owned by the Malcomson family when this photograph was taken by Jamie Malone, was later converted into the national headquarters for the Irish tannery business. In the 1950s, the nation’s leather industry started to deteriorate. It began to decline in the early 1980s.
The Irish tannery sector went under in 1985. Mayfield House, which served as the industry’s headquarters until the early 1990s, was then utilized as office space. In 1994, the structure was ultimately abandoned and allowed to deteriorate.
The building’s roof was still in place in the middle of the 1990s, and the interiors, although being worn out and in need of an update, were in a respectable condition of repair. Regrettably, this didn’t last long, and not long after, the abandoned structure started to swiftly decay.
Mayfield House was reduced to a dilapidated, roofless shell at the turn of the millennium. Several of its original elements were mercilessly removed for architectural salvage. The majestic mansion’s walls are all that remain now.
The estate was previously up for conservation plans from The National Trust for Ireland, but it now seems the run-down building and grounds are for sale for a reasonable $910,000 (£676k). Could you bring back the splendor of this once-grand rural estate?
Darul Aman Palace, Kabul, Afghanistan
The largest abandoned structure in Afghanistan is around 10 miles from Kabul, the capital. The enormous palace was constructed in the 1920s for King Amanullah Khan as part of an effort to modernize the nation.
The neo-classical palace would serve as the center of a new capital city that King Amanullah envisioned, and he also intended to build a narrow-gauge railway to link the palace to the previous capital.
The palace, created by French and German architects, was intended to house Afghanistan’s future parliament. But it wasn’t meant to be. The monarch’s modernization plan was abandoned after religious conservatives pushed King Amanullah Khan into exile in 1929.
Throughout the early and middle 20th centuries, the structure housed the Kabul University School of Medicine and functioned as headquarters for different Afghan ministries. At one point, the palace was even utilized as a storehouse.
A fire in 1969 severely damaged the structure. The destroyed palace was quickly repaired and used as the Ministry of Defense of Afghanistan’s headquarters in the 1970s, but it was once again devastated by fire during the Communist Takeover of 1978.
Thankfully, the beleaguered palace was about to embark on a fresh beginning. In 2019, the majority of the abandoned building was brought back to life through an expensive restoration operation, sporting a brand-new, brilliant white façade. The structure, which was saved from destruction, will now host a museum with items from the Presidential Palace archive.
Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers, Vienne, France
The heart-stoppingly picturesque Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers in the Vienne region of France goes back to the 13th century, when it served as the family home of the noble Bauçay family. It seems like something out of a storybook.
During the Middle Ages, English armies twice conquered the moated château and turned it into a lavish banqueting hall. During the Renaissance, the château was once again under French control, but it was destroyed by the French Revolution in 1789.
The once-dreamy château was severely damaged when wealthy businessman François Hennecart bought it in 1809. He undertook a massive rehabilitation effort to repair the gorgeous structure and preserve it for the future, adding a vineyard to the site.
Baron Joseph Lejeune purchased the château in 1857. The landed aristocracy rebuilt the structure in 1870, adding several neo-Gothic elements that pay homage to the famous châteaux of the Loire Valley.
Until one terrible day in 1932, when Baron Edgar Lejeune attempted to build a central heating system, the château served as the Lejeune family’s residence. Much of the interiors were destroyed when a terrible fire started.
The castle fell into wrack and ruin after being forced to leave the grounds. A French bank acquired control of the castle before selling it to a local educator named Marc Demeyer in 1981. Demeyer’s attempts to renovate the château were unsuccessful, and the structure continued to deteriorate.
The once-spectacular structure is now little more than a sad shell, yet this fairytale château could have a happy ending after all. The castle, which is currently accessible to the public, was restored thanks to donations donated by an organization called the Friends of the Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers.
Château Miranda, Namur, Belgium
The Liedekerke-Beaufort family owned Château Miranda up until the Nazis seized it and occupied it during the Second World War. The palace was bought by the National Railway Company of Belgium after the war, given the new name “Château de Noisy,” and converted into an orphanage and summer camp.
The eerie-looking château was a family resort until the late 1970s, when it was sold to Belgium’s National Railway Corporation. The dilapidated mansion was used as a school and filming site in the 1980s. Nonetheless, it had been completely abandoned by 1991.
Since the early 1990s, the château has been vacant. A fire in 1995 seriously damaged the structure, which had been plagued by neglect and vandalism. What was remained of the roof was largely wrecked in 2006 by a violent storm.
The owners firmly refused to sell for years, leaving the ancient château to actually fall away, despite several offers from the town of Celles to buy and repair the building.
In 2016, the owners finally consented to sell the château to a realtor who had grand intentions to demolish it and rebuild it in Marbella, Spain. In October 2017, demolition work on the structure started.
Unfortunately, the realtor learned that she had terminal cancer and decided to back out of the deal. Castignetti, a demolition company, made a charity plea to try to salvage the partially demolished structure, but they were unable to get the money. The château was entirely destroyed in 2017.
Pidhirtsi Castle, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine
Pidhirtsi Castle in Ukraine, considered to be one of the most incredible abandoned castles in all of Europe, was constructed between 1635 and 1640 for Grand Crown Hetman Stanisaw Koniecpolski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The Dracula-worthy castle belonged to the Koniecpolski family until it was acquired by nobleman Jakub Ludwik Sobieski in 1682. Great Crown Hetman Stanislaw Rzewuski bought the expansive rural estate in 1725, and it stayed in his family until the late 19th century.
The castle was occupied up to the First World War when the Rzewuski family sold it to Polish nobility in 1869. Russian forces conquered Pidhirtsi during the conflict, and the majority of its goods were looted.
Many magnificent marble fireplaces from the castle, as well as other priceless antique furniture, paintings, and fixtures and fittings, were plundered and the interiors were trashed. The Red Chamber of the castle is shown in this 1871 artwork by Aleksander Gryglewski.
During the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921, Pidhirtsi was looted once more. The castle, which was by this time in a very bad condition of decay, belonged to Polish Prince Roman Sanguszko during the interwar period.
Prince Sanguszko escaped to Brazil in 1939 when World War II broke out, taking the majority of the castle’s surviving assets with him. Shortly after, the Soviet authorities seized the property, which was later converted into a TB sanatorium.
The castle was abandoned after a devastating fire destroyed it in 1956. It was purchased by the Lviv Gallery of Arts in 1997 and turned into a museum after standing unused for decades. The gallery is attempting to bring Pidhirtsi back to its former splendor even though the castle is still in relatively terrible shape.