The most palatial properties of their day, time hasn't been kind to these eerie estates. Left to wrack and ruin, Mother Nature has reclaimed their once-grand hallways and their ornate façades are crumbling away in the wind. While they may be shadows of their former selves, these forlorn homes have fascinating pasts just waiting to be uncovered. There's a treasure trove of secrets lying in the ruins, if you know where to look...

Known as Seaview Terrace, this palatial property can be found in the city of Newport, Rhode Island, on a near eight-acre plot overlooking Sheep Point Cove and the North Atlantic Ocean. Also known as the Carey Mansion, the 43,772-square-foot waterfront residence is the region's fifth-largest estate, after the likes of The Breakers and Belcourt Castle. Yet the home's size is far from its only point of interest...

The grand house was originally constructed in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC in 1900, before it was snapped up by wealthy whisky distiller, Edson Bradley. Bradley purchased the property in 1907 and hired architect Howard Greenley to renovate and enlarge it. The home grew to 16,000 square feet and covered more than half a city block. 

Its opulent extras included a private chapel for 150 congregants, an art gallery, a 500-seat theatre and a large ballroom, kitted out with ornate detailing. Many of the furnishings and interior fixtures were imported from France and no expense was spared in the restoration of the lavish abode. Key details inside the 60-room mansion include its stone staircases, which are lined with stained glass windows, and its highly decorative, hand-carved ceilings.

Despite the luxurious finish of his home, Bradley was unsatisfied with its location, so in 1923 he decided to disassemble the mansion and move it to Newport. The complex process took two years and even gained the property a place at Ripley’s Believe It or Not – a museum dedicated to the world’s most unusual items and events. The mansion remains one of the largest homes to ever be dismantled, moved and reassembled elsewhere.

After moving his home, Bradley then bought an Elizabethan Revival mansion known as Sea View and together the two homes formed Seaview Terrace. Today, the estate is the largest privately owned home in Newport and it straddles two addresses in one of the area's most sought-after postcodes.

The colossal crib now boasts 29 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms, as well as a whispering gallery and a two-storey entrance hall, kitted out with Medieval-inspired fixtures. Despite the upheaval, and the fact the property has sat empty for some time, many of the home’s original features remain beautifully intact. The building’s most prized detail is perhaps an early Renaissance stained glass window that was originally designed for the Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy. 

After Bradley’s death the historic estate was passed to Bradley's daughter, before it was purchased by Martin Carey. Most recently it was used by a local private university, Salve Regina, and is now in need of extensive renovation works. The pad even featured on the Discovery Channel and was most notably used as a set location for the daytime soap opera, Dark Shadows. If you've fallen in love with this wild and wonderful home, then it's currently for sale with Edge Realty for $29.9 million (£22m), but it may come with some extra ghosts included as it's also been lauded as (possibly) the most haunted house currently on the market!

Nestled amongst overgrown land in Natchez, Mississippi, this grand old antebellum house, built around the early to mid-19th century, has seen better days. Captured by photographer Leland Kent, the derelict mansion was once a landmark Southern Belle, drawing crowds of well-heeled socialites to the grand soirées hosted in its heyday. However, this palatial property has witnessed its fair share of tragedy too...

Up close, the full extent of the damage becomes all too clear. Arlington, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, is completely open to the elements, with broken windows and an exposed loft. Gnarled vines have wrapped themselves around the grand double-height pillars and graffiti adorns the redbrick façade. 

In September 2002, disaster was to strike the house once more, when a devastating blaze destroyed much of the property's roof and second floor. Without insurance, the once-grand home was left to languish and decay. Currently, the City of Natchez has begun legal proceedings to take control of the estate and restore it to its former glory, so there could be a happy ending to this tragic tale yet...

No expense was spared on the elegant stately home. The interiors boasted splendid décor with ornate plasterwork, opulent gilding and intricately carved stone fireplaces. Indeed, in its heyday, Mayfield was considered one of the finest country houses in Ireland.

Captured here by Jamie Malone, the house, while still belonging to the Malcomson family, was eventually repurposed as the national HQ for the Irish tannery industry. The country's leather industry went into decline in the 1950s. By the early 1980s, it was dying a death.

In the mid-1990s, the roof of the building was still intact and the interiors, though shabby and in need of a revamp, were in a reasonable state of repair. Sadly, this didn't last very long and the abandoned building rapidly deteriorated not long after.

Formerly The National Trust for Ireland was seeking conservation proposals for the estate, yet now it appears the dilapidated property and grounds are up for grabs at a reasonably priced $910,000 (£676k). Could you restore this once-grand country estate to its former glory?

Afghanistan's grandest abandoned building is located around 10 miles from the capital, Kabul. The sprawling palace was built in the 1920s for King Amanullah Khan as part of a project to modernise the country.

In 1969, a fire destroyed much of the building. The gutted palace was promptly restored and served as the HQ for Afghanistan's Ministry of Defence in the 1970s, but was damaged by fire once again during the Communist Coup of 1978.

Fortunately, a new beginning was on the horizon for the besieged palace. A costly restoration project saw the majority of the derelict structure restored to its former glory in 2019, with a new, dazzling white façade. Brought back from the brink, the building will house a museum containing artefacts from the archive of the Presidential Palace.

Like something out of a fairytale, the heart-stoppingly romantic Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers in the Vienne region of France dates back to the 13th century when it was the seat of the aristocratic Bauçay family.

The moated château was captured twice by English forces during the Medieval period, who used the building as a grand banqueting venue. The château reverted to French ownership during the Renaissance period, but was devastated following the French Revolution of 1789.

Severely damaged, the once dreamy château was acquired by affluent merchant François Hennecart in 1809, who attempted an extensive renovation project to restore the stunning building and preserve it for posterity, adding a vineyard to the property.

Forced to abandon the property, the castle descended into wrack and ruin. The ownership of the castle passed to a French bank, which sold it to a local teacher called Marc Demeyer in 1981. Demeyer's efforts to restore the château failed and the building deteriorated further.

Today, the once-spectacular building is little more than a sorry shell, but this fairytale château may have a happy ending after all. A group called the Friends of the Château de la Mothe-Chandeniers raised funds to restore the castle, which is now open to the public.

King Henri I, disabled by a stroke, committed suicide on the grounds of the palace on October 8 1820, some say with a silver bullet. 10 days later, his son and heir, Jacques-Victor Henry, the Prince Royal of Haiti, was murdered at the palace by revolutionaries.

The first Palladian villa built in Scotland, Mavisbank House near Loanhead in Midlothian was designed by renowned architect William Adam and completed in 1727. The elegant country pile was commissioned by Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, 2nd Baronet, who collaborated with Adam on the design.

Regarded as one of Scotland's most important country houses, the mansion remained in the Clerk family until 1815, when it was sold to the highest bidder. Mavisbank changed hands at least four times during the early to mid-19th century and various additions were made to the structure.

In 1876, Mavisbank was converted into a lunatic asylum and renamed New Saughton Hall. Additional wings were added in the 1920s, further altering the historic character of the property, and the spooky abandoned home began to fall into decline.

The house was retired as an asylum just after the Second World War and snapped up by medical superintendent Dr William Harrowes. Keen to restore the property to its former glory, Harrowes oversaw the demolition of all additions made to the building during the 19th century and 1920s, and resurrected the Mavisbank name.

The Mavisbank Trust was established in 2002 with a view to restoring the property, but while several restoration projects have been floated, including this conversion proposal by architects Simpson and Brown. In July 2021 as Mavisbank remains a burnt-out wreck and shadow of its former self sadly an application for funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund requested by Historic Environment Scotland and the Landmark Trust was unsuccessful. We can only hope that once restored, the house will be grand once again. 

Château Miranda stayed in the Liedekerke-Beaufort family until the Second World War when it was confiscated and occupied by the Nazis. Following the war, the mansion was acquired by the National Railway Company of Belgium, renamed 'Château de Noisy', and repurposed as an orphanage and vacation camp.

The château remained empty from the early 1990s. Plagued by neglect and vandalism, the building was severely damaged by a fire in 1995. In 2006, a freak storm destroyed much of what was left of the roof.

Located on picturesque Carleton Island in upstate New York, this fine neo-Romanesque-meets-Tudor Revival mansion, also known as Carleton Island Villa, was built in 1894 as a summer escape for typewriter tycoon William Wyckoff and his family. 

The palatial property sits on the head of a peninsula known as Government Point overlooking Lake Ontario. Seemingly cursed, Wyckoff's wife had a heart attack and dropped dead a month before he moved into the property in 1895. Bereft and broken-hearted, Wyckoff purportedly met the same fate – he is said to have died in his sleep from a heart attack during his first night in the villa. 

General Electric initially planned to demolish the villa and build a retreat for its employees, but the plans were scuppered by the Second World War. By this point, the company had sold off many of the villa's ornate period features, and the property had fallen into serious disrepair.

As eerie as they come, this spooky house certainly isn't for the faint-hearted, and in any case, it's inaccessible to the general public. But that hasn't put off the urban explorers, ghost hunters and arty photographers who frequent the property unauthorised.

Wyckoff Villa has actually been on the property market for years, but has failed to attract a buyer willing to part with the millions of dollars required to fund its renovation. If you're interested, the 11-bedroom wreck, which sits on seven acres of land, is currently listed for a mere $495,000 (£367k).

One of the most splendid ruins in our round-up, Witley Court in Worcestershire in the UK was built in the 17th century for the Foley family. It was reconstructed in 1805 by John Nash, the architect behind Buckingham Palace and Brighton's Royal Pavilion. 

Luckily, English Heritage came to the rescue in 1972 and bought the house and gardens, preventing further decay. The conservation charity has shored up the building's foundations and stabilised the structure, and the ruin is now open to the public.

Restoration of the gardens continues in earnest at Witley Court and English Heritage recently completed its revamp of the stunning Perseus and Andromeda fountain, which adorns the scenic south parterre.

Deep in the Catskill Mountains in New York state lies this abandoned neo-Gothic castle, which sits on a thousand acres of land. Dubbed 'the Castle of Sorrow', Dundas Castle, aka Craig-E-Clair, hides a dark secret.

Dundas reportedly left a fortune of  $42 million (£31m), but his daughter Muriel is said to have been duped out of the bulk of her inheritance by the castle caretakers. Construction ceased in 1924, leaving the castle in an unfinished state.

Regarded as one of the most amazing abandoned palaces in Europe, Pidhirtsi Castle in Ukraine was built between 1635 and 1640 for Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The Rzewuski family sold the property to Polish nobleman Wladyslaw Sanguszko in 1869, and the castle was inhabited until the First World War. During the war, Pidhirtsi was captured by Russian troops and most of its valuables were pillaged.

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Prince Sanguszko fled to Brazil, taking most of the castle's remaining valuables with him. The Soviet authorities confiscated the property not long after and it was used as a tuberculosis sanatorium after the war.

A kaleidoscope of vivid colour, Sammezzano Castle has the wow factor and then some. The palazzo boasts a total of 365 rooms, all of which feature unique décor and the most incredible carvings and tiling.

Despite several attempts to fund an extensive conservation project to restore the deteriorating castle, the company's plans fell through. Struggling to survive, the property has since remained empty and off-limits to the general public.

A conversation group called Save Sammezzano was set up in 2012 to help fund the restoration of the castle. By this time, the property was suffering from years of neglect, with many of the rooms in dire need of an overhaul.

Hopefully this story has a happy ending as after a purchase by a Dubai investor in 2017 fell through, it was back on the market again in 2018 for around $18.5 million (£13.7m). Whatever becomes of this colourful castle, we hope any restoration is carried out sympathetically and in keeping with its history.

Candler is said to have had all sorts of curious hobbies, from performing magic tricks to collecting exotic animals. Briarcliff even housed its own zoo, which included lions, elephants and a baboon that purportedly escaped in 1935.

The abandoned mansion was purchased by Emory University in 1998 and though Briarcliff was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, the university failed to renovate the property and it was left to decay.

A hive of paranormal activity – if the local legends are to be believed – after dark, ghosts are said to walk the corridors and haunt the many rooms of the former country house.

Briarcliff now sits forlorn and empty on the Emory campus. While plans were floated to restore the historic home and transform it into a luxury hotel, the project was abandoned in 2018 when it was sadly deemed too expensive to restore. Even though the buildng has reportedly been featured in many films and TV shows, such as Stranger Things and Vampire Diaries, for now, the future of this stately home hangs in the balance...

Considered to be one of the finest surviving Gilded Age mansions in all of America, Lynnewood Hall is a stately home with a sad and complex history. Once nestled on 480 acres in Elkins Park, Philadelphia, the estate was constructed between 1897 and 1900, and harbours plenty of secrets. From hidden tunnels to its tragic Titanic connection, there are plenty of mysteries when it comes to this fascinating abandoned estate...

The neo-classical revival masterpiece was once one of the finest pieces of real estate in Pennsylvania. It was commissioned by US tycoon, art collector and Titanic investor, Peter Arrell Browne Widener. Widener’s wealth was impressive – in fact, he's now considered to be one of the richest Americans in the country's history. His fortune and tastes are reflected in the design of his former home, which was curated by notable architect, Horace Trumbauer.

Captured here by Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast, the estate was born from tragedy – a theme that would follow Widener around. The mogul’s wife, Hannah, died on board a yacht in 1896. While in mourning, Widener set his sights on building a legacy for the family. The house is thought to have cost $8 million (£5.9m) and has 110 rooms. Covering 70,000 square feet, Lynnewood Hall was constructed from ornate limestone and its impressive frontage rivalled the world's greatest stately homes. 

The Widener family lived at Lynnewood Hall for 15 years, but after persistent ill health Widener passed away in November 1915. His eldest son, George Dunton Widener Sr, should have inherited the property, but tragedy had struck the family three years earlier. Widener had invested in RMS Titanic, so in 1912 George, his wife Eleanor, and their son Harry, travelled on the ship's maiden voyage. Sadly, both George and Harry lost their lives when the Titanic collided with an iceberg.

Eleanor survived and Widener’s only surviving child, Joseph, inherited the estate, receiving an estimated fortune of $60 million (£44m). Joseph passed away in 1943, but neither of his children wanted to take on responsibility for Lynnewood Hall and the property fell into disrepair. If it weren't for the Titanic, the abandoned mansion could well still belong to the Widener family, but in 1948, a developer purchased it for the astonishingly low sum of $130,000 (£96k). 

The estate was purchased again by the Faith Theological Seminary, a branch of evangelical Christians, in 1952. The group sold off many of Lynnewood's valuable assets, including 350 acres of land and its rare interior fixtures. Thankfully, in 2003, the estate was added to the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, a list of endangered historic properties and there’s an ongoing campaign to save the building. 

Yet there’s one final secret inside this iconic home. When Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast toured the property, he stumbled upon a mysterious underground tunnel, deep in the basement. Little is known about the clandestine passageway, and it's not clear what exactly it was used for – although Widener's 37 permanent staff members may have used it to navigate the house, in order to keep out of sight. As far as real estate secrets go, Lynnewood Hall is a treasure chest of intrigue.

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