23. Money Pit Mansion
A Neoclassical mansion is too expensive to restore in Florida, called the “Money Pit Mansion.” For just $25,000, they built the house in 1911. Its original owner was a lumber businessman, so he made an 11,000-square-foot mansion for so cheap. He lived happily with his wife of 7 children in the house for several years until deciding to move out in 1924. Someone purchased the house and turned it into a funeral parlor. Then it became a retirement home and again a funeral home. But no one had the money to keep up with the repairs.
A wealthy real estate investor tried to fix it up and turn it into apartments but ended up falling into the scene of foreclosure. In 1992, a happy couple purchased a property from a bank for just $90,000. Home inspectors have informed the new owners that it will take five years and $225,000 to repair it. But this is too much for the couple. So they asked the city to help set up a nonprofit to restore the historic home in the early 2000s. Everything was going well until the 2008 recession. Now, the house is still just an abandoned mansion.
