Empty and unloved, some of the world's priciest properties have been forsaken by their owners and left to languish, from royal residences to presidential holiday homes and sprawling manor houses. But what led to their fall from grace? We take a look inside some of the most expensive derelict mansions in the world and uncover the mysteries behind their abandonment. Click or scroll on for more...

Over in the city of Żebbuġ, Malta, you'll find a hauntingly beautiful building that has seen better days. This historic palazzo has been left untouched for years, but luckily it is still structurally sound according to Sotheby's International Realty, who are currently attempting to offload the property for a cool $5.3 million (£3.8m).

Occupying an 0.74-acre plot, the house boasts a stunning walled garden with landscaped flowerbeds, 300 orange trees, a majestic pine tree and nine wells. Inside, you'll find 5,382 square feet of living space that showcases the building's amazing history. 

Dating back to the 18th century, the property was designed as a hunting lodge under the order of Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, a member of the wealthy and influential Rohan family of France, and 70th Prince and Grand Master of the Order of St. John.

As soon as you enter the property you can see the amount of money that Emmanuel poured into the place. The palazzo's lavish interior is still apparent despite its rundown state, so it isn't hard to picture just how dramatic and grand this entrance hall would've been in its prime.

From its intricately carved columns to its beautiful tiled floor, there's much to love about this abandoned mansion. In total there are 15 palatial rooms inside the home, of which six are bedrooms. 

Many of the interior spaces boast vaulted ceilings, ornate fireplaces and arches, while others open up to an interior courtyard that's flooded with natural light. There's a banquet hall featuring four 15-foot-high statues that represent the four seasons, as well as original stone stairways, an antique living room and a beautiful cellar. We're not sure why the palazzo was left abandoned, but we think it's time it was brought back to life.

The Bishops Avenue, also known as Billionaires' Row, is one of London's most affluent and controversial streets. The prominent road can be found in Hampstead and around a third of the mansions along it have been left abandoned, with many of them falling into ruin. Owned mostly by foreign investors who leave their homes uninhabited, these luxe properties are now in a sad state of repair.

Many of the 66 homes on Billionaires' Row were built in the late 1970s and swathes of them have seemingly been left to rot, despite being some of the most valuables homes in Britain. In fact in 2008, Toprak Mansion on The Bishops Avenue claimed a new record as the most expensive home ever sold in the UK at the time. The estate changed hands for $69 million (£50m).

Captured here by explorers Beyond the Point, this empty hallway is falling apart, with a caved-in ceiling that has let in the elements. However, it's easy to see reminders of the home's former grandeur still in place, such as the gold bannister and stained-glass windows within this cavernous hallway. 

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 perched 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. 

Justin Bieber reportedly rented one of the street's more luxurious homes in 2016, for a whopping $150,000 (£108k) a month. What was once the ultimate place to live in London has become an entire street of wasteful ruins and decaying buildings, that are said to be collectively worth $485 million (£350m). 

This venerable historic plantation house in Leesburg, Virginia sits on 212 acres and dates back to 1700. The mansion was rebuilt in 1902 in a Colonial Revival style by its then-owner Elijah Brokenborough White, who hired the most prestigious artisans he could find to deck out the rooms, which are notable for their fine panelling.

The 20-room house also featured one of America's first intercom systems. White bred champion racehorses at the estate and was wealthy enough to maintain the elegant neo-classical property to a T. During its heyday in the 1920s, the mansion hosted grand balls and dinner parties that were attended by local politicians and other VIPs.

Maaten effectively abandoned the property in the early 2000s. Left to the elements, Selma Mansion began to fall apart. The crumbling house was slowly reclaimed by nature and the interiors were targeted by vandals. Period features were smashed up or stolen, and parts of the roof caved in, as these photos from that time show.

In 2016, local resident Sharon Virts spotted the house on the list and vowed to buy and restore it. Delighting conservationists, Virts and her husband Scott Miller persuaded Maaten to sell and succeeded in acquiring the property for $1.2 million (£866k). Rescued from ruin, Selma Mansion is currently being restored to its former glory. 

Built in the 1890s, this empty stately mansion in Augusta, Georgia comes with a pretty amazing history. Offering eight bedrooms and six bathrooms, the sprawling home may be somewhat faded from its illustrious heyday when it was at the heart of high-society life, but its prestige is still evident. 

The abandoned American home is said to have regularly hosted the 27th President of the United States, William Howard Taft, in the early 20th century. Even with dusty floors and greying woodwork, it's not hard to imagine the mansion's former grandeur. This reception space is nothing short of spectacular, from the Art Nouveau-style glass light fixtures to the magnificent leaded windows and detailed panelling.

At the heart of the Queen Anne-style house, this grand carved staircase takes centre stage – talk about making an entrance! Commissioned in the late 19th century by businessman Landon Addison Thomas Jr, the property has been in the same family for over a century, however, it's now listed with Blanchard & Calhoun Real Estate for just under $1.5 million (£1.1m).

This imposing Italian Renaissance Revival mansion in Virginia was built in 1912 for business leader and philanthropist Major James H Dooley at a cost of $2 million (£1.4m), a hefty $51 million (£37m) in today's money. No expense was spared on the ultra-luxurious property, which took 300 artisans eight years to finish.

A romantic escape for Major Dooley and his beloved wife Sarah, Swannanoa was kitted out with furnishings worthy of a billionaire, including exquisite Carrara marble flooring and wall panels, along with gold plumbing fixtures. The home's wow-factor feature is a stunning 4,000-piece Tiffany stained-glass window featuring a depiction of Mrs Dooley that cost the equivalent of $64,000 (£46k) when adjusted for inflation. 

The Dooleys summered at the property until Major Dooley's death in 1924. Mrs Dooley died in 1926 and Swannanoa passed to her late husband's two sisters, who didn't waste any time getting rid of it. The mansion was sold for the knockdown price of $300,000 (£217k) and was converted into a country club, which opened in 1929 but closed in 1932 on account of the Great Depression.

The mansion was left empty for years. During the Second World War, the US Navy floated plans to purchase the property but was put off by the cost. Swannanoa finally found a buyer in 1944 when local businessman A. T. Dulaney acquired the dilapidated house for $60,100 (£43k). He leased it to polymath Walter Russell and his sculptor wife Lao, who established a New Age university on the estate.

Russell died in 1963 and his wife continued to lease the property until her death in 1988, when it was repurposed as the Russell Museum. Owners the Delaney family shut the museum in 1998 and partly renovated the property, but the vacant Gilded Age mansion, which they describe as a 'money pit', still requires extensive work, though it does manage to function as a venue for weddings and other events.

A monument to shameless corruption, the Mezhyhirya Residence in the Ukraine was the official summer house or dacha for the Soviet leadership, and passed to the Ukrainian government following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Viktor Yanukovych moved into the property in 2002 shortly after his election as prime minister and went on to spend millions of dollars of ill-gotten cash on it.

The no-holds-barred spending extended to the opulent bathrooms, which were fitted with the most expensive gold fixtures money could buy. Yanukovych installed an underground shooting range and dropped $3 million (£2.2m) on a golf course. A pricey bowling alley and tennis courts were also constructed.

Staying with corrupt leaders, Mobutu Sese Seko, the former president of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, was just as free and easy with other people's money, lavishing $100 million (£72m) on his 'Versailles in the Jungle', a luxe palace complex that was built in his home town of Gbadolite during the 1970s.

There was a swanky red-walled nightclub in the complex, which had a bar stocked with the best vintage champagnes, fine wines and spirits.  The Gbadolite complex also had several huge swimming pools, a five-star hotel for visiting dignitaries and a number of plush guesthouses to boot.

Mobutu was deposed in May 1997, having embezzled up to $15 billion (£10.8bn). The ex-president fled to Morocco, where he died later that year. Gbadolite was looted and all its valuables were removed or destroyed. The jungle has since reclaimed the complex, which lies ruined and abandoned.

The sprawling country house was built for copper tycoon Hugh Robert Hughes, who became known as HRH due to his suitably regal lifestyle. The mansion passed through several families and was last used as a private home in 1929, when it was sold to the highest bidder and converted into a boy's school.

Kinmel Hall became a spa for rheumatoid suffers in the 1930s and a military convalescent home during the Second World War. The mansion changed hands again after the war when it reopened as the Clarendon School for Girls. A fire in 1975 forced the school to relocate and Kinmel Hall was acquired and restored by businessman Eddie Vince, who used it as a Christian conference centre.

There were plans to transform Kinmel Hall into a luxury hotel, but the project never came to fruition. In 2011, a mystery buyer bought the mansion for a bargain $1.9 million (£1.4m) with the intention of developing the elusive hotel.

Kinmel Hall was added to the Victorian Society's Top 10 Most Endangered Buildings list in 2015 due to its worsening state. However, in May 2021 the estate was sold to a local resident at auction for $1.3 million (£950k), so its luck could be about to change. Could Kinmel Hall be saved and brought back from the brink? Only time will tell.

Tragedy struck at the manor in 2006 when Horn's wife Jill Sinclair was shot accidentally by their son Aaron, who was practicing with his air rifle and had no idea his mother was nearby. Sinclair fell into a deep coma and never fully recovered. Horn decided to sell up following the accident, and the property was bought by producer Mark White in 2009 for $15 million (£11m).

White invested in the studio but the house lay neglected for years. Trevor Bishenden aka TrevBish Photography captured the dilapidated interiors last year when the manor appeared to be completely abandoned with rising damp and wallpaper peeling off the walls. Fortunately, Hook End has since been given a new lease of life and is in the process of being brought back from the brink.

While it's hard to know why some abandoned homes have been left unoccupied, there isn't as much mystery when it comes to Loftus Hall. Considered to be Ireland's most haunted house, the eerie estate can be found on Hook Head, overlooking the Three Sisters estuary in County Wexford. Dating back to the 12th century, the haunting estate was used as the set for the 2017 Hollywood horror movie The Lodgers, which could be enough to put some house-hunters off... 

The estate spans 23,454 square feet and was originally built by the Norman Knight Raymond Les Gros, but it was left deserted some time ago, likely due to its spooky secrets. Former Lord Mayor George Lawlor of Wexford took to the airwaves on the Q102 breakfast show in April 2021 to reveal the property's creepy story...

According to legend, during a particularly bad storm, a dark stranger approached Loftus Hall on horseback, after his ship was driven into the rocks just outside. He spent a few days with the Tottenham family, who owned the building at the time, until one night they discovered that their house guest had a cloven hoof. 

When he realised he was rumbled, the stranger disappeared through the roof in a ball of flames. The disturbing incident is said to have made the youngest member of the family fall into madness. How's that for Halloween-worthy?

Despite its state of disrepair, it's easy to imagine how amazing this abandoned castle could be if given the right attention. It comes complete with 22 bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, plus various reception rooms and function areas. Every room is kitted out with striking period fixtures, from decorative floors to ornate fireplaces.

Spread across three floors, the home's best features include its remarkable hand-carved staircase and beautifully tiled entrance lobby. What's more, the estate is surrounded by 63 acres and comes with its own private beach. If you're brave enough to take on such an extreme fixer-upper, then Loftus Hall is on the market with Keane Auctioneers for $3.1 million (£2.3m).

Loved this? Like and follow us on Facebook for more incredible abandoned homes