The real estate grapevine is buzzing with news that a mysterious and anonymous buyer has scooped up an old mining settlement for an eye-watering $22.5 million (£18.1m). Due to its remote location and lack of essential supplies, it's been a ghost town for 40 years. Now rumours are circulating that a transport mogul may have big plans to develop the lonely enclave into a money-making hotspot. Click or scroll on for more...

This dusty California ghost town on the outskirts of Joshua Tree National Park was once the bustling community of Eagle Mountain. Formerly a thriving company town, the majority of its citizens were employed at the nearby Kaiser Steel mine. However, starting around the 1970s, the town began to decline in the wake of substantial staffing cuts at the mine, followed by its ultimate closure in 1983. And the town’s fate only got darker from there…

After the mine was shuttered, Eagle Mountain became home to an ill-fated low-security prison called the Eagle Mountain Community Correctional Facility, which opened its doors in 1988. All of the town’s once-thriving community centres, including its café and bowling alley, were repurposed to house the 438 inmates who were serving time for nonviolent offences such as parole violations. However, all this was brought to a brutal end in 2003, when a violent altercation broke out among the prisoners.

The inmates had been watching the World Series in the recreation room when a riot broke out, leaving two dead, and eight more charged with murder. While the private prison championed career development and reducing recidivism, and even garnered the 1992 headline “Prison Brings a Ghost Town Back to Life,” the riot was the final straw for the operation.

Now, the town is ready to launch its next chapter and was recently purchased by a mysterious buyer doing business under the company name of Ecology Mountain Holdings. Very little information is available about the town’s new owner, save for a business address in Cerritos, California. However, it is believed that trucking mogul Balwinder S. Wraich may be involved, as in 2021 he bought up more than 1,000 acres in the nearby town of Desert Centre.

Wraich co-operates the company Wraich Transport in nearby Fontana, and has spoken previously about his potential plans for developing the currently derelict area. “We’re going to develop a truck stop, gas station and hotel,” he told SFGATE. However, assuming Wraich’s plans are still in place, he will be facing an uphill battle, by his own admission. “There’s no food for 40 miles,” he confessed. “My goal is to get something big in the next two years. It’s going to help the community.”

Read on to discover the real-life people who bought towns, and what happened next...

While owning a mansion or fancy equestrian estate is undeniably impressive, telling people you own a town has got to be the ultimate real estate brag—even if it's a Schitt's Creek-style dive. Believe it or not, plenty of bold big-shots have pulled out all the stops and bagged whole municipalities, scooping up everything from shops and bars to churches. Click or scroll through to meet nine plucky people who really did go to town and purchased a whole community.

We've heard of the circus coming to town, but how about when they purchase said town? Spiegelworld, a Las Vegas-based performance company known for their adult-themed acrobatics, decided to snap up the Californian town of Nipton for over $2.5 million (£2m) in cash in early 2022. Ross Mollison, who's known as the company's "Impresario Extraordinaire", explains how the troupe became enamoured with the small town: "When we visited as guests a few years back, we fell in love with the peacefulness, the vast desert vistas, and the fireside chats with freight train drivers, miners and workers." Let's take a look around their exciting acquisition...

Spanning approximately 80 acres on the edge of the Mojave National Preserve, Nipton is a one-hour drive from the bright lights of Las Vegas. It's situated on a freight train railway line, which was previously used as a cattle-loading station for the neighbouring ranches. Hotel Nipton, pictured here, was built in 1905 and had a famous Hollywood guest—the silent film ‘It Girl’ Clara Bow. Nipton also hosts a town hall, general store, school house, RV park and family homestead. So what does Spiegelworld plan to do with the town and will its rich cultural history live on?

A spokesperson for the company says Spiegelworld has grand plans to turn Nipton into an artist’s retreat. In a statement made to lovePROPERTY, they explain their vision: "It will be a living town where Spiegelworld artists and performers will retreat to dream, create, and undertake unfettered artistic experimentation which will feed into the creation of Spiegelworld’s world-class shows. It will also be a place where visitors and passers-by can have an experience unlike anything else". In preparation for the circus’s arrival, the company's prop builders Alex and Frank Strebel have been busy clearing the land and are said to have cleaned out an estimated 250 tons of debris including old appliances, piles of mattresses and rusty water heaters.  

Describing the town as a living history lesson, Alex Strebel told the Wall Street Journal of a bunker in the art yard that reportedly once housed “the dynamite for the mines”. Mr Mollison and the circus crew have plenty of development ideas for the town, including creating underground accommodation in this bunker area, expanding on the existing sculpture park, opening a skydiving club and building a performance area in a grove of Eucalyptus trees. Fortunately, Nipton’s 25 residents and its unofficial mayor, Jim Eslinger, have been very welcoming to the circus troupe.

With miles of surrounding remote desert and soaring temperatures in the summer, Spiegelworld envisages the town as a “permanent Burning Man”—Nipton already houses several large art sculptures from the famous Nevada festival itself. With plans unfolding, Spiegelworld will begin by housing a creative team in February 2023 who are developing ideas for a show inspired by the Las Vegas arrival of the 2023 Formula 1 Grand Prix. You can keep up to date with their theatrical plans for Nipton here.

Back in 1989, at the height of her fame, Kim Basinger teamed up with family members and a group of pension fund investors to snap up the town of Braselton in her home state of Georgia. All in all, the 9 ½ Weeks and Batman star acquired 1,751 acres, including the local grocery store and bank, a 600-acre industrial park and 1,200 acres of additional real estate.

The total price paid was $20 million (£16.3m), which translates to $45 million (£37m) in today's money. Founded in the late 19th century by Harrison Braselton—who escaped the grind of life as a dirt farmer by marrying the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner—the town contains a number of evocative turn-of-the-century buildings built by Braselton and his descendants, including the family's eponymous store.

At the time Basinger purchased the town, it was still owned by 24 of Braselton's descendants, who managed to keep hold of their historic homes following the transaction. Residents joked that, before the sale, the most exciting activity in the town involved “breadin' chicken” and chasing the fire truck, so the population of 500 was understandably riveted by news of its new owner.

The actress found herself unable to attract further investors, and Braselton was left languishing, with the Chicago Tribune describing it as “the town that Kim forgot”. Facing bankruptcy, Basinger threw in the towel In 1993 and sold the town at a huge loss, netting just $1 million (£817k). The debacle led to tensions within the Basinger family, and the star went on to tell Barbara Walters that “nothing good” came of buying Braselton.

Johnny Depp went for broke in 2001 when he bought Gassin, a charming 37-acre hamlet located amid ancient olive groves and 300-year-old oak trees in the hills near Saint-Tropez. A love nest for the star and his then-partner, Vanessa Paradis, Gassin dates back to before the French Revolution, and had been abandoned sometime during the 20th century.

Depp set about restoring the locale's 12 rustic stone and wood-beamed buildings, including its dinky chapel, and ended up splashing a reported $11.4 million (£9.3m) on the revamp. In addition to the 4,300-square-foot main house, Gassin now has six guest homes, bringing the total number of bedrooms to 15, along with heaps of wonderfully quirky amenities.

They include Chez Marceline, a bona fide traditional French bistro kitted out with a proper chef's kitchen and classic zinc bar. On the other side of the bijou village square is the blanchisserie (Gassin's converted laundry), and just off to the north is the characterful repurposed church.

Reinvented as the principal guest house, the former place of worship retains some of its original furnishings, including the wooden confessional, which was turned into a wardrobe. There's also a covered wagon in the hamlet boasting a kitchen and bathroom; an art studio; a gym; two swimming pools (one of which features a sandy 'beach'); and a skate park with a half pipe. 

Depp even created a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed wine cave in which to savour his finest vintages. However, plagued by financial and legal problems, the star has been trying to get rid of the bucolic bolthole since 2015, with the asking price fluctuating between $25 million (£20.4m) and $63 million (£51.4m). But, despite his best efforts to offload it, the hamlet just can't find a buyer.

Mark Cuban is no stranger to making quirky investments, having put big bucks into all sorts of kooky businesses that have piqued his interest on the Shark Tank show. But the billionaire really outdid himself last year by buying the town of Mustang in Texas, which is so rundown it makes Schitt's Creek look upscale.

Listed with J Elmer Turner Realtors, Mustang's history has been described as short and sordid. The 77-acre settlement was created in 1973 as a wet town to serve the alcohol needs of surrounding dry communities, but over the years the liquor stores and dance hall were replaced by adult video stores and a strip club called Wispers Cabaret, with accommodation consisting of a couple of modest bungalows and a rundown trailer park.

One local has called Mustang the place “where all the bad stuff used to happen”. In 2008, Wispers Cabaret (shown here in the background) was the scene of a grisly killing. A confrontation between a patron and the club's owner and employees turned violent, resulting in the patron's death. The establishment closed soon after, followed by the adult stores.

Today, Mustang is pretty much a ghost town, with most of the population of 24 or so who lived there during the late 2000s long gone. These days, the highlights are restricted to a wastewater treatment facility and volunteer fire department, unless you count the vacant strip club and other derelict buildings.

This all begs the question, why did Cuban buy such a seedy backwater? It turns out he did it as a favour for a friend, the former owner Mark Price, who was dying of leukaemia and didn't want to burden his loved ones with having to sell the town, which he'd previously listed for $4 million (£3.3m). Here's hoping Cuban, who bought Mustang for an undisclosed sum, can breathe some life into the ramshackle settlement.

Riding his motorbike around Southern Italy's Abruzzo region one fateful day in 1999, Swedish-Italian entrepreneur Daniele Kihlgren chanced upon the medieval hilltop town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio and was instantly smitten by its unspoilt charm. The historic town had been largely abandoned, with only 70 or so residents remaining.

The town's long period of decline had kept developers away, perfectly preserving its historic character. Not even a single modern building had been constructed, but the surviving structures weren't in the best of shape. The wealthy scion of a family of cement magnates, Kihlgren vowed to restore the entire settlement and turn it into a "diffuse hotel", a concept he went on to pioneer.

The entrepreneur negotiated a deal with the local authorities, agreeing to pump millions into Santo Stefano di Sessanio to preserve its picturesque structures, in exchange for a ban on any new construction and the use of concrete. A believer in conservative restoration, which aims to retain as many original features as possible, Kihlgren has since renovated 32 of the town's buildings to date.

While several of these properties have been sold and now function as second homes, the bulk serve as accommodation for the Sextantio Albergo Diffuso, the innovative diffuse hotel which is scattered throughout the town. Kihlgren bent over backwards to ensure authenticity, decorating the houses with furniture and artefacts from the region, talking to historians as well as some of the town's elderly residents to figure out how people lived there in the past.

But the rejuvenation of Santo Sefano di Sessanio, which now has a population of 125, is just the start for Kihlgren, who is on a mission to revive as many struggling historic hilltop towns in Southern Italy as he can and bring them back from the brink. The millionaire's latest project involves the renovation of Sassi di Matera's famous cave dwellings, which are being restored with the same ultra-sensitive conservation ethos in mind.

In 2018, marketing professional Brent Underwood got together with his friend Jon Bier to buy the Wild West ghost town of Cerro Gordo in California's Inyo Mountains, stumping up $1.4 million (£1.1m) for all its 360 acres, which were listed with Bishop Real Estate. Pledging to recreate the 19th-century silver rush town as it was in its glory days, Underwood got to work renovating its dilapidated buildings.

Cerro Gordo sprung up in 1865, when vast quantities of silver were discovered in a nearby hill (hence the town's Spanish name, which means means 'fat hill' in English). Two years later, prospector Mortimer Belshaw delivered the first cartload of the precious metal to Los Angeles, sparking Cerro Gordo's boom times. Demand from the town became so great, it's said to have played a significant role in LA's economic development. 

Reflecting Cerro Gordo's swiftly accumulated wealth, a number of grand buildings were erected in the late 19th century, the finest of which was the American Hotel, dubbed Cerro Gordo's crown jewel. But the town's pretty buildings hide an ugly past. Native Americans were forcibly removed to make way for the settlement, and by the 1870s it had become a hotbed of violent crime, averaging a murder a week.

The mine's deposits dried up in the 1930s and the town was abandoned. Fast forward to 2022, and Underwood is well on the way to restoring Cerro Gordo and fulfilling his dream of creating a living museum. That said, his renovation journey—which the marketing exec chronicles on his YouTube channel—hasn't been the smoothest. For starters, Underwood was stranded in the town during lockdown with just a ghost for company.

However, the biggest setback came in June 2020 when the American Hotel caught fire and burnt to the ground. Understandably crestfallen following the blaze, Underwood is nevertheless planning to have the hotel rebuilt using the original plans, and is making a ton of progress renovating the town's other buildings, including the tin church, saloon and several houses and tiny cabins.

From a genuine Wild West town to a handsome imitation. Mellonsfolly Ranch in New Zealand's North Island was built in 2006 at a cost of around $6 million (£4.9m) by cowboy-obsessed businessman John Bedogni, whose dream was to create a replica of an 1860s Wyoming frontier settlement. When Bedogni fell on hard times in 2012, his friend, car parts tycoon Rob Bartley, stepped in and bought the town and ranch for an undisclosed sum.

Whereas Bedogni used the ranch as a whimsical private retreat for friends and family, Bartley turned it into a diffuse boutique hotel with accommodation for up to 22 people, serving as a conference and wedding venue to boot, and renting it out in its entirety for a not-too-shabby $5,300 (£4.3k) a night.

Nestled within 900 acres of land, the ranch—which has been beautifully maintained since its completion—consists of ten period-style buildings, including a fully licensed saloon, Miss Nancy Ann's Hotel (which provides plush guest accommodation), a general store, a robbable bank for mock hold-ups, a bathhouse with clawfoot tubs, stables and an assay office.

Other structures include the courthouse (which is actually a vintage-inspired cinema) and the billiards lounge, while the ranch harbours a manuka honey farm with about 600 hives. In 2020, Bartley made the difficult decision to sell Mellonsfolly Ranch after he was diagnosed with cancer. With a heavy heart, he put it on the market for $7.5 million (£6.1m).

Sadly, Bartley lost his cancer battle in March 2021. As for the ranch, its fate is uncertain. The hotel stopped taking bookings in 2020 due to the pandemic, and while the property listing has been removed, no sale has been confirmed. Here's hoping the new owner—if there is one—will be as passionate about the faux Western town as its former 'sheriffs' were.

Back in 1996, Ryanair founder Tony Lyons swept up the magnificent Lyons Demesne in County Kildare, plunking down around $4.3 million (£3.5m) for the estate's 600 acres, which include a Georgian stately home considered among the most gracious in Ireland, and an adorable chocolate-box village, built in the 1820s.

Steeped in history, the estate belonged to Irish royalty until the Anglo-Norman invasion in the late 12th century. It ended up in the ownership of Anglo-Irish aristocrats the Lawless family, who oversaw the construction of the mansion and village, which was built beside a lock on the Grand Canal that connects Dublin to the River Shannon in the West of Ireland.

The estate remained in the Lawless family until the late 1920s, and was acquired in 1962 by University College Dublin. When the uni sold it on to Ryan in 1996, the 16-acre village was in an appalling state, with the rose stone-clad buildings—including the mill, forge and cottages—almost in ruins. Luckily, its billionaire buyer had plenty of cash to spend.

Ryan invested $98 million (£80m) into the renovation of the country house and village, which was transformed into a luxury getaway destination, foodie magnet and sought-after wedding and conference venue, with nine houses, four apartments, 14 hotel suites, a cafe, several bars, a swish function room and a restaurant in the former mill presided over by top chef Richard Corrigan.

Ryan died in 2007, and these days the estate belongs to his son Shane. The village, however, was sold in 2016 for around $6 million (£5m) to businessman Barry O'Callaghan, who has developed it into the Cliff at Lyons hotel, adding a spa and the acclaimed Aimsir, which has quickly established itself as one of Ireland's best restaurants, garnering two Michelin stars.

An old Etonian and founder of the Johnston Quarry Group, Nicholas Johnston was no stranger to running an entire settlement—along with his family, he owned Oxfordshire's enormous Great Tew estate—when he bought the village of Bantham in Devon back in 2014 for $14 million (£11.5m). He made the purchase on a whim, after stumbling upon the listing in a newspaper and recalling fond childhood memories of holidays in the area.

A friend of former UK prime minister David Cameron and part of the so-called Chipping Norton social set, Johnston mopped up 728 acres of land including the beach and estuary, together with 20 cottages, some of which date back to the 17th century, and the nostalgia-inducing village shop. The local pub, however, remains in the ownership of the brewery.

From the get-go, villagers wondered how the entrepreneurial landowner would make his mark on Bantham. After all, the Johnstons had transformed the Great Tew estate, establishing the Soho Farmhouse hotel and members' club there and selling off properties to the likes of David and Victoria Beckham and Rupert Murdoch. Some were becoming increasingly worried the new owner would end up spoiling their seaside idyll.

Tensions came to a head in 2017 after the millionaire revealed plans to build a beach club, complete with a gym, pool and cafe, an underground car park and a boat restoration yard. Furious villagers launched an anti-Johnston campaign and the Save Bantham pressure group was formed. More recently, a villager reported Johnston to the police for breaching lockdown restrictions.

Despite the hate from some quarters, Johnston also has plenty of fans in Bantham. Plus, he insists the plan was never a serious proposal, just an idea floated to the parish council after a “blue sky-thinking” brainstorm. The landowner's actual proposals are reassuringly sustainable and involve the construction of a glamping park with yurts and a small housing development away from the beach, using local materials like stone and thatch. 

Vietnamese coffee baron Pham Dinh Nguyen hit the headlines in 2012 when he acquired the tiny Buford Trading Post in Wyoming. America's smallest town, with a population of just one, and the highest on Interstate 80, the 9.9-acre settlement was auctioned off by its long-time lone resident Don Sammons, with Nguyen casting the winning bid of $900,000 (£735k).

As you'd expect, there isn't a whole lot going on in Buford, which is made up of a gas station, a convenience store and a three-bedroom home. That said, the small town has a rather interesting history, starting out in the 1860s as a military outpost and becoming fairly developed by 1900 with a post office and school. At its peak, Buford's population stood at 2,000.

Nguyen bought Buford as a publicity stunt to promote his PhinDeli coffee brand, and plug it he did by adding PhinDeli Town to its name and selling the coffee by the truckload in the convenience store. Nguyen has rarely visited, and the guy managing the town lived outside of its limits.

The only resident was the convenience store attendant. He ended up quitting, along with the manager, and in 2018 the convenience store was shuttered and the gas pumps switched off. With the business kaput on or hold at the best, Buford's future seemed uncertain, and the local press took to calling it a ghost town. 

And this is how things remained, at least until very recently. According to reviews on Google, the gas station and convenience store are now back in operation, following a refurb. Nguyen appears to still own the town as no sale has been recorded, but some of the PhinDeli branding has been removed. Interestingly, Buford now has another claim to fame: it is the cheapest place in Wyoming to fill up.

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