Why Are Mansions Abandoned With Everything Left Behind?

Throughout the United States, and even around the world, luxurious and expensive mansions are left behind to decay. These mansions can be abandoned for a number of reasons. Perhaps the owners simply don’t care about the place or they might have run into financial issues that forced them to leave the property.

There’s also a multitude of other reasons such as structural damage to the property that proves too costly, water damage, pest infestation, divorce, property taxes, or even the owners being so rich that they simply forgot about the property which is one of the dozens they own around the country.

Why Do Millionaires Abandon Their Mansions?

It’s impossible to nail down the exact reason why a wealthy family would abandon a perfectly good mansion. Oftentimes, millionaires will build a luxurious mega-mansion of their dreams and run into financial troubles a few years later that force them to sell/evacuate the property and leave it behind.

But when these homes are located in remote areas of the country, although the cost of housing might be cheaper, there are even fewer buyers, and if nobody can afford to buy the property, the family will abandon it completely. Sometimes the original owners can’t afford to upkeep the property after some years.

Properties of these sizes require a continuous large sum of money to keep them running. Property taxes are expensive, maintenance, electricity, heating, water, etc. These mansions are so expensive that sometimes abandoning them is their best option instead of paying large sums of money to simply live in them.

Why Are There so Many Abandoned Mansions?

It’s not possible to answer this question as each mansion has its own story. Most of the time mansions are abandoned for the same reasons simple homes are abandoned. Wealthy individuals and families exist all throughout the world.

One necessity, and wise investment, of a person with a lot of money, is a home. Everyone needs a place to call their own, rich people are of course no exception to this. These homes are so expensive that selling them is sometimes difficult because very few people actually have the money to buy them.

What Happens to Abandoned Mansions?

If the mansion is completely deserted by its owners, the house will remain abandoned until the government seizes it for unpaid taxes. If the home is in foreclosure, that means a bank is responsible for the property and will likely try and find a buyer to take it off their hands.

While the home is sitting empty and waiting for the government, bank, or whoever owns it to make a decision on its fate, it will slowly deteriorate to time and the elements and likely fall prey to intruders, squatters, and vandals.

Can You Explore an Abandoned Mansion?

As tempting as it might seem, entering a property, even if it looks abandoned is still illegal. Someone owns the property and if you are caught trespassing you will likely be charged with breaking and entering by local authorities. You should never assume that a mansion is completely abandoned regardless of how it looks on the outside.

Not only do you risk getting into legal trouble, but old homes that have not been maintained for many years could become structurally unsound. Stairwells or floors could be damaged and rotten due to termites or water damage and could easily collapse as you’re walking around.

Other unseen risks include rodent infestation that could spread a number of diseases that can harm you if inhaled. The attraction to an abandoned mansion is understandable, as an urban explorer myself I have come across these enormous and luxurious homes just sitting empty for years.

The desire to go in to have a look around is intense but the risks associated with it are enough to stop me from setting foot on the property. If you do decide to make your way inside an abandoned mansion, be sure to ask for permission first.