10 Magnificent Mansions No One Wants To Buy (2024)

When it comes to mansions no one wants to buy, there’s no such thing as “home sweet home.” Everyone needs a place to call home, but nobody wants to go broke doing it. Around the globe, dozens of stunning mansions sit empty because nobody wants them.

In some cases, their architecture marvels far from civilization. Others are world-famous for being on the market for years due to strange hauntings. Even after upgrade and restoration, these mansions still have a for sale sign sitting in their front yard. There are various reasons these phenomenal pieces of real estate appear cursed to be alone forever as you will discover below.

10 Mansions No One Wants To Buy

1. Granot Loma

Known as the most expensive home in Michigan, Grant Loma is a breathtaking mansion on over 5,000 acres along Lake Superior. General Motors executive Louis Graveraet Kaufman completed the construction of the residence in the early 1920s. After Kaufman and his wife passed away in the early 1940s, their daughter remained in the home but left in the 1950s. It stayed abandoned until the Kaufman family sold it in the late 1980s.

It sits on 26,000 square feet with a private marina in the back. The house boasts a giant hot tub, 23 bedrooms, and four additional buildings. It went on the market at an asking price of $40 million. The price was too steep for most people, and it remains unsold, even after a 50% reduction. Despite being furnished, the isolated location makes it unappealing, as does the $20 million price tag.

2. Schweppe Mansion

While some mansions are too expensive and others too isolated, the Schweppe Mansion is too haunted. The eerie Gothic-style mansion sits hidden in the woods along Lake Michigan in Lake Forest, Illinois. The fantastic home sits on 21,000 square feet, boasting a 400-foot-long beach.

In 1917, Marshall Fields gifted his daughter Laura Shedd the stunning residence. After her death, Shedd left her children with a hefty inheritance, leaving her husband with very little. A few years later, he committed suicide.

Since then there have been several reported murders in the home, leaving behind tortured souls to haunt the house. For roughly 50 years, the scary mansion’s reputation grew as it remained empty except for the occasional ghost sighting.

In the 1980s, a family purchased the home, undertaking a painstaking restoration process. They put the house on the market for $18 million. They struggled to find a buyer, reducing the price over ten years to its current price of $8.5 million. The vacant home remains unsold.

3. The Priestley House

In 1852, the first doctor of Canton, Mississippi, Dr. James Priestley, built a stunning mansion on 5,000 acres in the same town. The Priestley mansion is a prime example of the Southern Antebellum Greek Revival style of architecture and features a swimming pool, library, office, parlor, and music room. Priestly continued to enhance the mansion until the early 1900s. Not long after his family moved out of the house, leaving it empty until they sold it in 1996.

The new owners put the house through a vigorous restoration process and put it back on the market for $1 million. Despite reducing the price, they still haven’t sold it.

According to folklore, ghosts and other evil spirits haunt the home. People have reported seeing the translucent Dr. Priestley and a ghostly figure of a woman standing on the porch. They also claim to hear horrifying moans and screams throughout the residence.

4. The Watcher Home

In 2014, the Broaddus family moved to 657 Boulevard in New Jersey. First constructed in the early 1900s, the stunning home has six bedrooms, four fireplaces, and four baths. It was the Broaduss family’s dream home until they started receiving threatening letters from someone claiming to be “the Watcher.” The letter stated that “the Watcher” had been watching the house and the family since the early 1920s and even addressed the family by name.

The stunning home once sold for $1.5 million but then remained unsold for years. The mystery about “the Watcher” gained traction in the neighborhood, making it difficult for the new owners to sell the home. They eventually sold the property for just over $900,000, but the current owners have been unable to unload it. The stunning mansion gained widespread fame after being the basis of the popular 2022 Netflix series, The Watcher.

5. SK Pierce Mansion

Built between 1873 and 1875, SK Pierce Mansion belonged to businessman Sylvester K. Pierce. Located at 4 West Broadway in Gardner, Massachusetts, Pierce became one of the city’s most well-known people. He ran a successful chair factory across the street from his famed mansion that features a four-story tower on top of the mansard roof with 11-foot ceilings. It also includes ten bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and stunning woodwork.

The estate became dilapidated and abandoned in the late 19th and early 20th century. During that time, tales of haunting sounds, ghostly sightings, and terrifying figures scared off anyone attempting to enter the building. At one point, the house was on sale for an asking price of just $329,000. New owners purchased the home after a significant restoration project, offering nightly tours of the haunted Victorian mansion.

6. The Lewis House

Aubrey Lewis was a hero in Montclair, New Jersey. At various times in his life, he worked with the FBI, was an All-American athlete, and was an executive with a significant company. He lived with his wife Ann and their five kids at the historic Lewis home at 44 Pleasant Avenue. The nearly 100-year-old house sat on 3,900 square feet with six bedrooms.

After Lewis died in 2001, the house sat on the plot for over 20 years while the town decided what to do with it. An attempt to deem the land a historic site failed. In 2017, the local government’s solution was to put the house on the market for the low price of $10. It seemed like a great deal, except the owner had to pay to move and relocate the home on their dime. Due to a lack of buyers, the town demolished the house to make room for a new development.

7. Charming Forge Mansion

Ironmaster and glassmaker Baron Stiegel built the famous Charming Forge mansion in 1749. The quaint and charming mansion is aptly named and features seven bedrooms, colonial woodwork, and seven different fireplaces. When the new owners took over in 1976, they began to experience odd paranormal activity.

According to legend, several ghosts haunt the house, including German soldiers. Most famously, the ghost of the weeping lady haunts anyone that dares enter the abode. Due to a supposed curse on the owners, the house sat on the market for more than 15 years until it finally sold for $650,000.

8. Ann Starrett Mansion

In 1899, George Starrett built the stunning Ann Starrett mansion for the love of his life on an 8,000-square-foot lot. The house is a work of art with eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and a stunning spiral staircase.

Over the years, there have been numerous ghost sightings of George and Ann and their child’s nanny. Due to the legendary hauntings, the owners have always struggled to sell the house despite its beautiful architecture.

9. Halston Penthouse

Architect Paul Rudolph converted a carriage house into a stunning four-story penthouse in the Upper East Side, Manhattan, in 1966. In the 1970s, it became the home of fashion designer Halston. Halson was part of the Studio 54 crowd along with famous faces like Liza Minnelli, Andy Warhol, and Truman Capote. He often hosted the group and others at his famous penthouse, throwing wild parties that were full of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

The 7,500-square-foot penthouse includes 32-foot-high ceilings, a minimalist sunken living room, a guest floor suite, and a 1,600-square-foot terrace with a brown glass facade.

In 1990, Halston sold the mansion before his death. The new owners struggled to sell the penthouse and after a lengthy restoration, it went back on the market for $38 million in 2011. Despite reducing the price to $24 million, it remained unsold. In 2018, fashion designer Tom Ford purchased the residence for $18 million. It’s unclear if he moved into the penthouse or simply added it to his vast collection.

10. Hayes Mansion

The Hayes mansion is a famous estate and landmark in San Jose, California. At one time, the mansion remained run down and empty for decades. The late 19th-century Mission Revival was the home of the Hayes family. The massive property includes a railroad station, chapel, carriage stop, post office, and power plant.

In the 1950s, the Hayes family sold the property but it remained empty. As the years passed, the Maltese Cross-shaped mansion was neglected. It stayed that way until the city of San Jose purchased the manor in 1985.

Consisting of marble, stained glass windows, and exotic wood, the Mediterranean estate sits on 41,000 square feet and was one of the lucky mansions to be saved, with the historic site is now a hotel and resort.