From labyrinthine abodes that make absolutely no sense to stately homes shrouded in secrets and spine-chilling stories of supernatural activity, these intriguing dwellings will delight anyone who loves a good mystery.
We've gathered some of the world's most baffling houses. Click or scroll to explore...
Heralded as Australia’s most haunted house, the Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, New South Wales, has drawn thousands of visitors with its chilling tales of supernatural sightings and mysterious deaths.
Christopher Crawley built the Victorian-style residence in 1885 for his wife Elizabeth and their seven children.
Following his death from an infected carbuncle in 1910, Elizabeth became a recluse, reportedly leaving the house only twice in 23 years.
The house fell into disrepair after Elizabeth died in 1933, until it was purchased by Olive Ryan and her husband, Reg, in 1963.
The couple immediately began to notice strange occurrences. There was no electricity or running water when they first moved in, yet one day, upon returning home, they saw bright lights shining from the windows.
The paranormal activity comes as no surprise given the homestead's macabre history, which is marked by several disturbing events. The eclectic interiors only add to the curious nature this property holds.
The Crawley family endured their own tragedy in 1917, when the maid dropped their baby daughter Ethel down the stairs to her death. Ethel's body is believed to be buried in the garden.
The maid claimed she had been pushed by an unseen force, and even today, visitors to the macabre homestead, which opened to the public in 1971, report feeling a presence in the hallway or the sensation of an ice-cold, tiny hand slipping into theirs when they enter certain upstairs rooms.
Perched in East Haddam, high above the Connecticut River, this eccentric mansion is known as Gillette Castle. It was named after its designer, William Gillette, the American playwright and actor who played the first ever Sherlock Holmes in the late 19th century.
Gillette, who wrote the first authorised play adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes novels, went on to portray the fictional detective more than 1,300 times over 33 years.
Gillette made a fortune off his years in the role, much of which he funnelled into building his castle between 1914 and 1919.
The actor hired the local firm Porteus-Walker Company to construct his vision of a medieval-style castle, complete with uneven rooflines, jutting towers, and a raw fieldstone façade.
The castle, which was built from steel and local Connecticut fieldstone, was originally dubbed the Seventh Sister Estate.
The castle served as his home in later life when he finally retired from the stage, though he continued to develop it throughout his lifetime, modifying and extending the house between 1923 and 1926.
In its final form, the castle made a fitting home for the fictional detective, bursting with eccentric details, trick mirrors, and doors that lead to hidden passageways and covert rooms.
The aptly named Villa of the Mysteries, in the ancient city of Pompeii near Naples, Italy, has stumped experts since its excavation in the early 20th century.
An exquisitely preserved suburban villa on the outskirts of the ill-fated city, the property, which is Pompeii's most celebrated abode, derives its name from the Hall of Mysteries situated in the residential part of the building.
Many rooms in the villa are adorned with colourful frescoes. The most alluring and mysterious of them decorate the main hall, which is alternatively known as the red room.
These frescos are among the best-preserved paintings from the ancient world. But exactly what they depict is still not conclusive...
Some experts believe the red room frescoes depict a bride getting ready for her wedding, while others suggest she is being initiated into a secret cult linked to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, fertility, and religious ecstasy.
The latter makes sense given that the villa is thought to have produced its own wine, owing to the discovery of a wine press here in 1909 when the site was excavated along with the rest of Pompeii.
Standing out dramatically among the slick mansions of LA's Beverly Hills, this whimsical storybook home looks like it was transplanted from the pages of a fairytale by the Brothers Grimm.
It has prompted many a passing motorist or pedestrian to do a double-take, and no doubt wonder exactly how it got there.
The Witch's House, aka the Spadena House, is the handiwork of acclaimed Hollywood art director Harry Oliver.
The home was built in 1920 at the Willat film studios in Culver City, and originally served as offices, dressing rooms, and a set for silent movies, including an early Hansel & Gretel picture.
Threatened with demolition, the charming cottage was acquired by producer Ward Lascelle and moved to Beverly Hills sometime during the mid-1920s.
Lascelle and his wife Liliane divorced not long after, and Liliane, who managed to keep the house, married her former servant, Lou Spadena, hence the alternative name.
The cottage was sold to the Green family in 1965, but by the time it came on the market again in 1998, the property was in a sorry state and was threatened with demolition yet again.
Thankfully, the house was saved from the wrecking ball in its final hour by local estate agent Michael Libow, who oversaw a meticulous renovation of the property.
Charlotte Brontë visited Norton Conyers numerous times in 1839, some eight years before her most famous novel, Jane Eyre, was published. Brontë had heard stories about a 'mad woman' confined to the building’s eerie attic, more likely epileptic, or pregnant with an illegitimate child.
The tragic tale is said to have inspired her infamous character Bertha Mason, Mr Rochester’s first wife, who has been locked away. The house contained an undiscovered mystery until the early 2000s...
In 2004, a narrow stairway near Mr Rochester’s bedroom and leading to the attic was discovered within the thickness of the panelled wall, which further linked the historic property to the fictional Thornfield Hall in the novel.
The stairs have been repaired, though there is no public access to the attic. “It’s such a sad room,” said Lady Graham to British newspaper The Guardian.
She and her husband, Sir James Graham, whose ancestors bought Norton Conyers in 1624, are the current owners of the house.
Beyond its mysterious connection to a beloved novel, the Grade II-listed property has played host to two Kings, Charles I and James II, who both spent the night here. Many of its 18th-century furnishings, including paintings seen here, have been well-maintained.
After undergoing restoration work, the property is open to the public to explore the rooms and gardens that inspired one of history's most classic novels.
One of the architectural jewels of Sintra, an affluent locale just outside Lisbon, Quinta da Regaleira is a spectacular 10-acre (4ha) estate and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The mansion sits in the foothills of the evocatively nicknamed Mountain of the Moon, which once served as a country retreat for Portugal's royal family and high society.
The sprawling estate references a whole host of architectural styles, from Renaissance and Ancient Roman to Gothic and Portuguese Manueline, and was the brainchild of eccentric tycoon António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro.
Born in Brazil and raised in Portugal, Monteiro inherited the family fortune and earned the moniker 'Monteiro the Millionaire'. Keen to channel his fortunes into his whimsical domestic vision, he hired flamboyant Italian-born set designer and architect Luigi Manini to design the estate.
With money no object, the pair set about creating a masterpiece in the neo-Manueline style, which combined Renaissance and Gothic aesthetics.
The home was constructed between 1904 and 1910, and the final product is a masterpiece of limestone sculpture and carving.
The most mysterious feature of the home lies outside the main house. Known as the ‘Portal of the Guardians’, a long tunnel leads from a central fountain to an Initiation Well, which descends 88 feet (27m) underground.
The well consists of nine levels lined with Ionic columns, said to represent the nine founders of the Knights Templar or the nine circles of heaven, purgatory, and hell in Dante's Divine Comedy.
While the exact purpose of the well can't be known for sure, it's riddled with symbols of the Knights Templar, leading many to believe it was used for initiation ceremonies.
Labelled 'the strangest home in the world', Körner’s Folly in Kernerville, North Carolina, was built in 1880 by artist and designer Jule Gilmer Körner, aka 'the Man of a Thousand Peculiarities'.
A riotous mishmash of styles, the exceedingly eclectic house has 22 rooms in total spread across three storeys and seven levels.
Each room is unique, with ceiling heights ranging from a claustrophobic five-and-a-half feet (1.7m) to an imposing 25 feet (7.6m), and no two doorways or windows are alike. Ditto the property's six chimneys and 15 fireplaces, which all differ considerably in style.
Visitors may wonder why the home embraces so many diverse styles, and the answer lies in Körner’s profession: the property was conceived as a sort of showcase for his interior decorating firm.
A home interiors' catalogue brought to life, the house has been open to the public from the get-go and features America's oldest private theatre, which sits on the third floor.
Other oddities include a mini version of the house, which functioned as an outdoor toilet.
After falling into disrepair during the Second World War, the idiosyncratic property narrowly dodged demolition before it was saved during the 1990s, and nowadays it is one of the premier tourist attractions in the area.
A villa, an amphitheatre, a war museum, and a mausoleum, the Vittoriale degli Italiani on the shores of Lake Garda in Italy is a testament to the lavish lifestyle and excesses of the poet Gabriele d’Annunzio. The unusual complex includes extensive landscaped gardens and bizarrely, the prow of an Italian battleship.
It is an eclectic blend of architectural styles and structures which pay homage to the soldier and proto-fascist, who played an important role in his country’s cultural and political history.
In the grounds of the estate sits the prow of the warship Puglia. It was gifted to D’Annunzio from the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in recognition of his activity during the First World War, when he led a group of fellow nationalists to seize and occupy the city of Fiume in 1919.
D'Annunzio, a supporter of fascism, wrote speeches for Mussolini, with whom he had a complex rivalry.
Mussolini, known as Il Duce, first visited the estate in 1921 after it was seized from German art historian Henry Thode, Franz Liszt’s grandson-in-law, as war reparations. He also helped fund its restoration, likely to keep the popular D'Annunzio away from Rome.
The poet eventually went on to condemn Italy's alliance with Nazi Germany but the house itself has many of the hallmarks of a fascist monument, including a Brutalist mausoleum which houses his tomb, countless sculptures, and works of art.
In the main house, known as the Prioria, stained-glass windows cast an eerie light on the gloomy rooms, crammed with weird and wonderful artefacts.
The author, who allegedly took naps in a coffin-shaped bed, lived here until he died in 1938.
Craigdarroch Castle is a striking and extravagant landmark that commands attention, even amid the elegant surroundings of Victoria’s historic Rockland neighbourhood.
Constructed between 1887 and 1890 for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir, Craigdarroch is a quintessential example of a 'bonanza castle', a grand mansion built by newly affluent families during the industrial era.
Sadly, Robert Dunsmuir passed away a year before the castle was completed. The project was brought to fruition by his two sons, after which his widow, Joan, took up residence with three of their eight daughters.
The Romanesque Revival-style castle has one of the finest collections of Victorian stained-glass windows in the whole of North America. Of the 47 original windows, 32 are still in place, however, the studio responsible for the artwork remains a mystery.
Another interesting feature is the speaking tube, which runs throughout the house and allowed the Dunsmuirs to direct the servants from anywhere.
This unusual porte cochere is decorated with floor-to-ceiling panelling. Unique woods were used throughout the castle, including walnut, Jarra, and rosewood, as well as the less glamorous maple, holly, and oak.
Robert’s death plunged the family into turmoil, sparking a legal dispute between his widow, Joan, and their son, James, then Premier of British Columbia. Joan ultimately remained in the castle for 18 years, until she died in 1908.
Stepping inside the opulent mansion, now a museum, is rather like entering a time capsule. Not only have its original features been meticulously preserved and restored over more than three decades, but the interiors are also filled with period objects from the time Joan resided there. Among the many treasures is a 14-carat gold handbag adorned with diamonds and rubies.
Packed with puzzling architectural oddities and boasting a backstory that's as curious as they come, the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, is hands-down one of the world's weirdest homes.
Built over 36 years for Sarah Winchester, the troubled heiress to the eponymous gun fortune, the home was transformed from a simple two-storey farmhouse into a sprawling 24,000-square-foot (2,230sqm) mansion comprising an incredible 160 rooms.
Legend has it that the construction of the vast house, which was completed in 1922, was guided by the spirit of her late husband, who Mrs Winchester is said to have consulted during séances in the witch's cap turret room.
The eccentric widow was, as the story goes, haunted by ghosts. The mansion's many oddball features, think faux staircases, a door to nowhere, and a myriad of secret passages, were purportedly designed to confuse these vengeful phantoms.
As well as believing in ghosts, Mrs Winchester was obsessed with the number 13: the house has 13 bathrooms, staircases with 13 steps, chandeliers with 13 arms and so on, adding immeasurably to its eeriness.
The Queen Anne-style mansion, which was so-named by escape artist Harry Houdini, was opened to the public in 1923. The peculiar property has since attracted 12 million visitors and even inspired a Hollywood movie, but many of its mysteries remain unsolved to this day.
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