Hollywood celebrities previously owned six abandoned houses
Celebrity mansions with large names and even higher price tags agitate the real estate market.
A celebrity’s home frequently sells rapidly after going on the market. There are, however, certain exceptions. These opulent properties with well-known owners are rarely sold. Some homes are left empty, whether due to tragedy, a death, or a dispute.
Furthermore, there is no assurance that the new owner would keep a celebrity’s home in its original splendour if sold.
Find out what happened to six vacant celebrity homes and their details in the information provided below.
Since a video exploring the grounds of P. Diddy’s abandoned house went viral, it has been making the rounds online.
An Instagram account called @bigexplorez, specialising in curating Broken America, published a video titled “Abandoned Villa Owned by Rap Superstar” earlier this month.
As Complex published the video, it soon gained popularity and sparked debate about the mansion’s location.
Urban explorers have been discussing the location of P. Diddy’s residence for years. As @bigexplorez wrote, “Don’t explore this if you know where it is. There were numerous trail cameras, and the police were kind enough not to lock us up. Reddit users have suggested that the estate is situated somewhere in Georgia.
@bigexplorez told insider, “Diddy bought it in 2003, then sold it to developers in 2007. The developers wanted to tear down the house and construct 11 residences on the property, but the city refused to allow them to do so. It has 7 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, not counting the pool house. It has a tennis court, a five-car garage, and an apartment above it. The house was bought privately in 2020 with the intention of remodeling, I believe.”
After a tragedy, a large property with 11 bedrooms that had belonged to Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour was left empty
The Hook End Manor is situated on 25 acres of land in South Oxfordshire, England. Alvin Lee (pictured), a band member Ten Years After, purchased the estate in 1972, and within the 11-bedroom house, he constructed a sizable recording studio. When David Gilmour, the guitarist for Pink Floyd, bought the house in 1980, the studio space made it the ideal residence.
According to Consequence of Sound, the home contains everything from the expected to the weird, including a recording studio used by Rod Stewart and Tom Jones and a rumoured tombstone in the basement.
Trevor Horn took over the mansion in the 1990s when Gilmour sold it to West Side Productions. After his wife was unintentionally shot at the house by their son while he was playing with an air weapon, Horn placed the house up for sale. She lived, but she had a brain injury for the rest of her life, was unable to move or speak and spent more than three years in a coma. 2014 saw her passing from cancer.
According to reports, producer Mark White paid $15 million for the mansion in 2009. Still, as multiple people who took pictures of the empty bedrooms attest, the house was never restored or occupied.
After languishing on the market for years, Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch sold for $22 million in 2020
Neverland Ranch is an entertainment park that includes zoo animals, bumper cars, two different railroad tracks, and more. According to reports, Michael Jackson paid $19.5 million for the 2,700-acre California estate in 1987. As he resided on the Disney-like ranch, he frequently partied and hosted elaborate parties, even throwing Kim Kardashian a party for her 14th birthday.
That stopped in 2003 when Jackson was accused of abusing children, leading to a police raid on the home. He was shocked by the attack and later acquitted in 2005 of all allegations of child molestation. 2008 saw a threatened foreclosure sale of the Neverland property due to speculation that his legal battles had a negative financial impact. In the end, Jackson sold it to Colony Capital in 2009 for $22.5 million.
The house underwent rebranding and upgrades worth millions of dollars. After Jackson passed away in 2009, the property, Sycamore Valley Ranch, was sold in 2015 for $100 million. Two years later, it was reduced to $67 million, and in 2019, it was listed again for $31 million.
After being vacant for years, it was finally reported in December 2020 that it had been sold; the new owner is Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle, managing partner of the private investment group The Yucaipa Companies. Insider said he paid $22 million for the estate, less than one-fourth of the initial asking price.
The Minnelli Mansion was the focal point of a court case
The estate was constructed in 1925 and remodelled by architect John Elgin Woolf before being bought by director Vincente Minnelli, according to Curbed Los Angeles.
The director’s will had two provisions regarding the house when he passed away in 1986. His wife, Lee Minnelli, was given unrestricted access to the home for the rest of her life, but his daughter, actress Liza Minnelli, was given control of the estate.
According to Curbed, when Liza decided to sell the Beverly Hills estate in 2000, she reportedly offered to buy her 94-year-old stepmother an apartment.
Lee resisted leaving after the property was sold in 2002. According to the Los Angeles Times, the workers then continued to work for free after Liza stopped paying their salaries. Lee sued Liza for breach of contract, elder abuse, and infliction of emotional distress. To secure a new dwelling, she also sought a $1 million trust in her name from the house sale.
When the case was dismissed in 2002, Liza worked out a deal with the new owners and agreed to pay the rent so that Lee could continue to live there until she passed away.
The property’s escrow was closed in 2006; the reported purchase price was $2.3 million.
Lee passed away in 2009, and the new owners discussed restoring or tearing down the house. But, no decision appears to have been reached, as the house is currently empty.
The abandoned Hong Kong mansion of Bruce Lee will be converted into a school
Bruce Lee’s Hong Kong mansion was swiftly acquired after passing in 1973 at 32. The house was purchased by Chinese benefactor Yu Pang-lin in 1974, who transformed it into a “love hotel” with rooms available for hourly rental.
According to The South China Morning Post, Pang-lin declared that he intended to sell the property to collect money for the Sichuan earthquake victims. The decision to keep it instead of selling it was made when Lee’s supporters persuaded him to do so in his honour.
Later, he intended to convert it into a museum, but the administration rejected his ideas.
According to the South China Morning Post, Pang-lin bequeathed the property and his entire estate to charity when he passed away in 2015.
The newspaper continued to say that the estate would be transformed into a centre for Chinese studies. However, the house had structural issues, making maintenance all but impossible. The remaining building portions would be destroyed and turned into new construction, except for four window frames and a vibrant Lee mosaic framework.
The Living Word Sanctuary Church now owns the former home of Mike Tyson
A 25,000-square-foot abandoned home is located 50 miles southeast of Cleveland, Ohio. Mike Tyson resided in the opulent house approximately 20 miles from where he used to train before entering prison in 1992 after being found guilty of rape.
According to the Daily Mail, the house included a 10,000-square-foot area with cages for his four tigers, an indoor pool, a wrought iron spiral staircase, and money-covered ceilings and walls.
Following a three-year prison sentence, Tyson bought back the mansion, which he sold for $1.3 million to Paul Monea, a businessman best known for his Tae Bo training programs.
The house was vacant until 2010 after Monea was imprisoned in 2008 for conspiracy and money laundering allegations.
The house was later donated to the Living Word Sanctuary Church after being sold for $600,000. The house was entirely overgrown after being abandoned for more than ten years.
