Even the most expensive homes can fall into a state of disrepair. From Steve Jobs' crumbling former home to the extravagant wastelands of London's Billionaires' Row and the burnt-out remnants of Pablo Escobar's luxurious hideaway in Colombia, these mansions were once worth a fortune. Yet today, they stand derelict and exposed to the elements.
Click or scroll through and take a look inside these abandoned mansions once home to the world's super-rich...
Nestled in the wilds of Ontario lies this enigmatic mansion shrouded in mystery. Located on six acres (2.4ha) of dense woodland, the home was built in 1973 and has housed a long list of residents over the years.
Canadian urban explorer Noah toured the remarkable house back in November 2023, calling it the 'Billionaire's Incredible Abandoned Castle Mansion In The Woods' on his YouTube channel.
The entire property has been imagined as a medieval fortress, complete with turrets and battlements along the roofline. The wood-panelled entry hall is impressive in its proportions, featuring a grand staircase lined with decorative wrought-iron bannisters.
According to Noah, the castle was last sold in 2007 for CA$1.6 million (£868/$1.1m). Following the sale, it was renovated and leased to tenants in the market for a high-end rental home.
The house spans 9,000 square feet (836sqm) of living space, once impeccably decorated. Take, for example, the glittering chandelier, carved fireplace surround, and neatly drawn curtains in this room. If it weren't for the debris, the space appears as if it were still lived in.
When he toured the home, Noah discovered discarded boxes of designer clothes, shoes, and jewellery – one receipt he came across reportedly showed a bill of more than CA$4,000 (£2.2k/$2.9k) for one shopping trip.
According to Noah, bailiffs took possession of the property and its contents in 2023, after deferred rent left the leasing company with a reported CA$14 million (£7.6m/$10m) of debt.
What remains of the mansion's swimming pool is shown here. Drained of water, it's filled with detritus, dirt, and what looks to be the remains of fallen ceiling tiles, which have left insulation and pipework exposed overheard.
It's not clear what the future holds for this unusual, abandoned mansion, though Noah did spot a skip in the grounds, so perhaps there are plans in the pipeline for the forlorn home.
The Bishops Avenue in north London is one of the capital's most expensive stretches of real estate. A third of the mansions along here have been left empty and abandoned and many of them have sadly fallen into ruin.
Owned by foreign investors who often leave the homes uninhabited, around 20 of the once-impressive mansions stand entirely derelict.
Many of the homes were built in the late 1970s and have been left in varying states of decay. This crumbling hallway, captured by explorers Beyond the Point, was falling apart, with a caved-in ceiling that had let in the elements. However, vestiges of the space's former grandeur remain, such as the gold bannisters and stained-glass windows.
As unbelievable as it may seem, some of the homes have been left untouched for over 25 years. This conservatory looks like the owners have just upped and left, with an ashtray still on the rattan table and faded magazines stacked high.
The Bishops Avenue has been dubbed "one of the most expensive wastelands in the world" by developer Anil Varma, who owns a property on this notorious street.
Once a luxurious pool house lined with glass, this room is now slick with grime, while loose wires dangle precariously over the swimming pool. The mirror and huge skylight, which flood the space with natural light, show how meticulous the home's design was.
Who knows how much money was spent constructing the lavish houses on the Bishops Avenue, only to let them languish and moulder?
The Jackling House was built in 1925 by famed architect George Washington Smith and captured by photographer Jonathan Haeber in 2007.
The Spanish Revival-style home was purchased by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1984, who lived there until 1994 when it was abandoned.
In fact, Jobs hated the house so much that he spent the last years of his life petitioning to get the mansion demolished so that he could build a smaller home for his family.
While Jobs' request for demolition was being processed, the home started to fall into a state of disrepair, and the opulent interior began to be taken over by nature.
Although the paint was peeling and the plaster crumbling, it's not hard to see the past splendour of the 35-room mansion. Spread over 15,000 square feet (1,394sqm), the home even had a massive pipe organ that was retrieved before demolition.
Located in the affluent town of Woodside in California, in its prime, the mansion offered open-air balconies, a games room, marble bathrooms, and a grand staircase complete with a chandelier. It even had a tunnel underneath the house to get around.
Jobs eventually won the battle, and the mansion was demolished in 2011, just eight months before he passed away from pancreatic cancer.
Before the demolition, the property was covered in vines, with mould creeping across the ceilings and old appliances left to decay. The local town collected many artefacts from the home, including door handles, a chandelier, and a toilet.
The mansion sits on the edge of a bluff, with panoramic views out to the ocean and beyond. You can see the living space is rundown, with only a ruined sofa and a coffee table discarded among the opulent marble and bronze statues.
Once home to Kawamoto's art collection, the property mogul left many of his marble and bronze statues dotted around the home, with over 100 of them sitting in the basement.
Meanwhile, the grand staircase was once lined with plush red carpet. Today, however, it is littered with rubbish and dirt, maybe from Kawamoto's rush to leave.
Captured by Steve Ronin, the huge dining area almost doesn't look abandoned. With its shiny marble floors, statues, and gold chandeliers, it looks like the ultimate place to host a dinner party.
Mirrored ceilings and swathes of glazed walls flood the space with natural light and draw in views of the surrounding trees.
The bedroom is perhaps the most opulent space in the mansion. A tired-looking mattress sits on top of a red fabric platform, while an ornate rug lies just out of shot. The chandelier has crashed to the floor, and a lonely pair of shoes still sits neatly on the side.
Who knows what the future holds for this abandoned luxury home?
This spectacular neoclassical Revival masterpiece, known as Lynnewood Hall, is considered one of the greatest surviving Gilded Age mansions in the US. It was built between 1897 and 1900 for businessman Peter Arrell Browne Widener, now considered one of the 100 richest Americans in history.
The build is said to have cost $8 million – the equivalent of £235 million ($308.5m) in today’s money – and has 110 rooms, of which 55 are bedrooms and 20 are bathrooms, as well as an art gallery and a ballroom large enough to accommodate 1,000 guests.
At the height of its former glory, Lynnewood Hall employed 37 full-time staff to run it and a further 60 employees to look after the extensive garden. This impressive entrance hall was captured by photographer Leland Kent for Abandoned Southeast.
When Peter Widener died in 1915, the house was left to his youngest son, Joseph, who was the last surviving heir after Widener's eldest son, George, died on the RMS Titanic.
This photo shows the old art gallery, with the fine old skylights still intact. Joseph spent much of his £45.6 million ($60m) inheritance on the property and particularly its renowned art collection, considered the most important private collection of Gilded Age European masterpieces in the world.
When Joseph died in 1943, the house was abandoned as none of his children wanted to take on the huge responsibility of running the estate.
The estate was eventually bought in 1952 by the Faith Theological Seminary, a branch of evangelical Christians, who sold off Lynnewood's valuable assets, plus more than 350 acres (142ha) of land. The house now has only 33 acres (13ha).
In 2003, Lynnewood Hall was added to a list of endangered historic properties in the region, and a campaign began to save the house. In June 2023, it was announced that preservationists had purchased Lynnewood and had started restoring the building, hoping to return it to its former glory.
Once upon a time, this 19th-century Eastlake-style home in Palatka, Florida, was the beloved summer home of Pennsylvania banking mogul James Ross Mellon and his family.
Vacated years ago, it has since been left to the elements and hides costly antiques inside its decaying walls.
The winter holiday home, which was captured in 2019 by urban explorer Leland Kent for Abandoned Southeast, has passed through various owners since the Mellon family sold it in the late 1930s.
While the entrance hall has crumbling paintwork and signs of damp, it must have been a hub of activity in its heyday.
Upstairs, the bedrooms still show signs of the home's former life. Several vintage radios, as well as a miniature child's piano, surround the wooden fireplace, which has been well-used.
While the wallpaper is peeling away and debris litters the floor, the space still has a certain charm.
The en suite bathroom probably used to be a grand space, but now needs a complete overhaul. The fixtures and fittings are grubby and old, while the vivid green paint has worn away over time. It's hard to believe that this former home of a billionaire has been reduced to this derelict state.
Captured by urban explorer Steve Ronin, this mansion dates back to the 1900s and belonged to a wealthy Italian family who made their fortune through farming. When the parents passed away, the children inherited the huge home but didn't keep up the maintenance.
Eventually, they moved away and left the palace to be forgotten, and now large sections of it are collapsing. This drawing room, for example, is scattered with bricks that have fallen from the ceiling.
Exploring the precarious lower floor of the mansion unveils a wealth of surprising treasures. It looks like the family just up and left, as everything has been left in its place, including these early portraits of what we presume is the family on the living room wall.
The family left behind all their personal belongings, offering an eerie window back in time to the last moments the home was occupied.
The kitchen table is set with plates and cutlery, while the cupboards are fully stocked with crockery. It's only the dust and dirt that gives away the fact it's been abandoned.
One of the five bedrooms even has a miniature town set up in it. We can only imagine one of the children would have stayed in here and whiled away the hours with their traditional toys, which have now been left scattered with debris and dust.
The region of Shekhawati, in the northeast part of Rajasthan in India, is famous for its rows of abandoned mansions. The area, which was founded in the 1400s and developed at the beginning of the 19th century, was once home to India's billionaires.
Today, many of the grand mansions, known as havelis, are crumbling.
The havelis blossomed until the early 20th century, when the rich business tycoons living there left for better opportunities in areas such as Mumbai and Calcutta. With trade moving elsewhere, development stopped in Shekhawati, and the artwork-covered marvels were abandoned for good.
The havelis were all built in a similar style. Spread over two floors, they often have four courtyards – two reserved for socialising and the other two reserved for cooking and animal stables.
The entrances are made up of ornately carved wood, with mirror work and detailed paintings running throughout.
These days, most of the havelis have fallen into disrepair. Authorities in the region will only allow the mansions to be sold to people who will maintain their heritage and restore the mansions to their former glory.
This French Eclectic-style mansion was built in 1927 for mega-wealthy magnate Harley Clarke, who went on to become the president of the Fox Film movie studio.
Located in Lighthouse Beach in Evanston, Illinois, the house was probably one of the last great houses built in the area before the Wall Street Crash.
The limestone mansion, which backs onto Lake Michigan, had no expense spared on its design, as you can see from what remains of this intricate moulded detailing.
Clarke lived at the property with his family until 1949 when his fortune fell victim to the Great Depression. He was eventually forced to sell his opulent mansion to the Sigma Chi fraternity.
The three-storey, 16-room mansion has seven bedrooms, a spacious glass conservatory, a ballroom, a basement, and six towering chimneys. It was once the perfect entertaining space until it was abandoned in 2015 by the Evanston Art Center.
During the Evanston Art Center's occupancy, the main-floor rooms were converted into exhibition galleries and the second-floor bedrooms and third-floor ballroom were utilised as classroom space. The basement was also converted into a pottery studio.
The mansion narrowly escaped demolition when the Evanston Preservation Commission voted unanimously to deny the council permission to raze it to the ground.
Thanks to community campaigns, the City of Evanston issued a Request for Proposals for the long-term restoration and reuse of the historic Harley Clarke Mansion. As a result, the house has now been returned to its former glory and repurposed as a wedding and event space.
Located in Peñol Reservoir in the idyllic resort town of Guatapé in Colombia, this once-grand holiday home belonged to notorious gangster Pablo Escobar.
Estimated to earn $22 billion a year – that's £37.5 billion ($49.3bn) in today's money – before he died in 1993, Escobar named the estate La Manuela after his daughter. It was said to be Pablo's second-favourite house.
Situated on 20 acres (8ha) of land, the home was targeted by a vigilante group in 1993, who planted a bomb in the bathroom of the home, which devastated the estate, leaving only ruins behind. At the time of the explosion, Escobar had already fled the home. He was killed eight months later by authorities.
Today, the main house is a shell of what it once was. Once upon a time, the home had its own disco room and featured double-layered walls that were said to be used for hiding money. The home is now open to the public. However, no visitors have ever reported finding anything hidden within the crumbling walls of the historic house.
Years of neglect have seen the property descend into decay, but in its heyday, it would have boasted a pool, tennis courts, a helipad, and a guest house, all surrounded by imported trees.
This poolside cabana would no doubt have been a luxurious hideaway in the home's heyday. Now, all that remains is its mouldering, charred frame.
Taken over by nature, much of the notorious home is now unrecognisable. Inside the cabana, you can just about make out an old wood-burning stove in the centre.
The estate's curious visitors can tour the swimming pool, the bathroom where the bomb exploded and even Escobar's room. If walls could talk!
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