The Money Pit Mansion is a magnificent Neo-Classical home located in the middle of Florida. Only because of expensive expenditures and significant damage, its numerous owners have been unable to restore it to its former beauty after it has been abandoned for decades. Go inside this old mansion, captured by photographer Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast, and learn about its unique history.
The once-grand residence was built by a Georgia native who supposedly made his fortune in Florida at the start of the twentieth century via naval supplies and the timber industry. The property took three years to build and is still regarded as one of the most magnificent homes in the area with its Grecian-style pillars, having been finished in the early 1900s.
Standing Strong
The massive estate, an architectural marvel, survived World War II, unlike many of Florida’s big early palaces. The house has since been abandoned and has fallen into disrepair over the years.
Changing Hands
The entire house was built with mahogany and was once a site of grandeur, but it now has collapsing ceilings and peeling plasterwork. The main door, which is still imposing, is flanked by exquisite glasswork, and the ceilings are lined with beautiful covers. The timber tycoon who commissioned the mansion traded properties with the vice president of the local bank in 1924 as part of a housing deal.
A crumbling staircase
The mansion was then sold in the 1940s and converted into a funeral home before being renovated into a meeting hall 20 years later, and eventually into flats. The once-glamourous staircase is now deteriorating, with safety tape replacing the railing and the white paintwork becoming grey after years of neglect.
Faded Grandeur
Guests were once met in the corridor by beautiful mahogany columns and intricate plasterwork on the ceiling. But, all that is left now is worn paintwork and remnant doors and panels from previous unsuccessful refurbishment attempts.
A state of disrepair
The house went into foreclosure in 1990 and was subsequently put on the market. But, without a buyer, the ancient property was doomed to be demolished. So, what keeps it standing today?
A second chance
A local couple is believed to have spared the property from foreclosure by offering the bank $88,000 (£67k). With considerable termite damage to the timber structure, it required extensive restoration at a cost of more than $220,000 (£167k).
Hidden treasures
The mansion is now mostly vacant, save for abandoned repair materials and this Civil War-era Charles M Steiff grand piano, which is believed to be worth over $28,000 (£21k) today. The magnificent instrument is located in the lower parlour room, among wet, peeling walls and dusty, old flooring.
Hopes for restoration
The pair anticipated that the home will be available to the public in five years as a historic library or wedding venue. Donations to the repair works, however, diminished over time, and reported health difficulties prompted them to abandon the mansion. Despite evidence of wear and tear, the ground floor has held up well over the years, and the light-filled sitting room continues to impress with its sash windows and archways.
Unique features
It’s still evident that the Money Pit Mansion is full of lovely historical details asking to be restored. The majestic staircase, which formerly led upward to the first floor and beyond the attic area at the top of the home, would have been a major feature.
Heading upstairs
According to Abandoned Southeast’s Leland Kent, the city took over the restoration effort in 1995, forming a nonprofit to collect funding to pay for the work. Even from the modest landing, it’s evident how the home’s beautiful workmanship would shine with a thorough refurbishment.
Down to the bare bones
Despite its lack of embellishments, the stark bones of the upstairs landing hold promise. What was once a great expansive corridor going off to an array of exquisite bedrooms is now an empty, frightening place with an incomplete ceiling and rubbish scattered on the floor.
Hidden heights
The massive property, at 11,000 square feet, has a massive attic that would have offered plenty of space for the original owner, a Georgia timber mogul, and his big family. The vaulted space is nothing short of stunning, with complex rafters and tons of old woodwork.
What could it have been?
With so little evidence, we can only speculate on what the area could have been used for. Yet, with so much light and space, it could have become a second bedroom or perhaps a playroom for children. Nonetheless, it is now littered with construction materials and bears little resemblance to its previous self.
Raising funds
Left to languor
The enormous estate now remains unoccupied, over twenty-five years after restoration attempts began, having failed to find finances to restore it to its former splendour. We wonder what the future holds for this sad property, left to the elements…