The world’s most spooky abandoned houses

There’s nothing like an abandoned house to get our imaginations racing. Monuments to the past, these empty structures have witnessed history unfold and their crumbling walls are steeped in spine-tingling secrets. Would you be brave enough to venture near these languishing landmarks on a dark night? Click or scroll on to discover some of the creepiest empty homes from around the world – if you dare…

In 2020, Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast braved the grounds of Moulthrop House, close to Lake Eufaula, Alabama. The eerie family home was completed in 1837 and had everything from lavish interior spaces, to its very own cemetery. The Moulthrop family owned the property until the 1980s, but with no living heirs to take on ownership, it was sold to a real estate developer. Plans to restore the property never materialised and it quickly fell into a state of disrepair.

No place quite has the same Gothic allure as Transylvania in Romania and this amazing historic castle can be found in the very heart of Dracula land. Finished at the end of the 18th century, it was the summer residence of count Géza Teleki and later his son, Pál Teleki, a controversial figure with strong anti-Semitic views. The day the German troops crossed Hungarian territory in 1941, Pál died from suicide and sadly Teleki Castle fell into a state of decay.

Considered one of the greatest surviving Gilded Age mansions in America, Lynnewood Hall in Pennsylvania, USA, harbours its fair share of secrets. US tycoon, Peter Arrell Browne Widener, decided to build the house after his wife Hannah passed away in 1896, but tragedy would follow Widener to his new home. In 1915, he died after persistent spells of ill health, just three years after losing his heirs on the ill-fated Titanic. Lynnewood Hall has been left vacant since around 1948.

Speaking of cursed millionaire mansions, Castelo da Dona Chica in Palmeira, Portugal, is full of secrets. Construction began in 1915 and was commissioned by João José Ferreira do Rego and his wealthy heiress wife, Francisca. But the project was halted in 1919, when the couple ran out of funds and separated. Francisca is said to have cursed the castle, vowing it would never be finished or lived in. Whether this folklore is true or not, her hex appears to have done the trick…

Once the home of a wealthy Irish family in the 1800s, Mayfield House stood empty for three decades. It was commissioned in the 1740s by David Malcomson, but changed hands numerous times over the decades before being abandoned in 1985. With overgrown greenery, smashed windows and crumbling brickwork, the property is crying out to be restored. In late 2021 it landed on the market for €790,000 (£697k / $772k) and is said to be being transformed into a luxurious hotel. Let’s hope it isn’t haunted!

That isn’t the only ill-fated self-build though. Rockwell House in Georgia was left vacant following a fire in 1969. It was built in 1838 for Colonel Samuel Rockwell, who is said to have died of a heart attack in 1841 when he saw the bill for his new wrought-iron fence (pictured here). It’s rumoured to have cost the same amount as the house to create, around $2,600 (£2.4k), which is approximately $88,510 (£82.4k) in today’s money. Take a tour of Rockwell House, courtesy of Abandoned Southeast.

According to the REA Group, Summer Hill house was “full of cobwebs and abandoned furniture” when it landed on the real estate market in late 2019. Billed by some as a ghost house, the deserted pad was strewn with dusty crockery, old rope and empty bottles – not to mention the front door was barely accessibly due to overgrown weeds. Despite this, and its creepy aesthetic, the property sold for AUD$1.7 million (£1m/$1.1m).

This ruined plantation mansion near the town of Lowndesboro, Alabama, dates back to 1830 but was remodelled in the Greek Revival style during the 1850s. The property passed through numerous prominent local families, before being bought in 1901 by Robert Dickson. Sadly, the building was destroyed by fire. A new mansion was built in its place and the pad was deemed fireproof, until the second incarnation of the house burned to the ground in 1964. It’s sat like this ever since.

The former home of a Confederate colonel, this antebellum house in northern Virginia, USA, was mysteriously abandoned many years ago. It’s thought to have been built between 1853 and 1856, with 300,000 bricks used to build the basement and chimneys alone. Sadly, the house is a shadow of its former self, with creeper vines covering its exterior and its once-ornate rooms scattered with dust and long-forgotten belongings. Luckily for us, renowned urbex photographer, Bryan Sansivero, gave us the chance to peek inside. Are you brave enough?

Not only has this dilapidated villa on Carleton Island, New York, been left vacant since 1927, it’s also said to be haunted by the ghost of its former owner, typewriter entrepreneur William Wyckoff and his family. The expensive abandoned mansion was commissioned by Wyckoff in the 1890s but sadly, he’s rumoured to have died of a heart attack on his first night in the mansion, just a month after his wife passed away unexpectedly. Make of that what you will…

This is one residence we wouldn’t want to stumble upon after nightfall. Located in Sparta, Georgia, the original bones of the ornate Pendleton-Graves House date all the way back to the 1820s. Once a landmark home in the area, the grand structure, with its turrets, cornicing and elegant porch, has been long-abandoned and left to the elements. It makes a haunting sight, but it’s clear the property could be something really special if only it could be rescued…

Located in the town of Dobele, within the district of Zemgale in Latvia, this eerie home is enough to send shivers down your spine. Framed by gnarled trees, the derelict woodland residence could easily be the backdrop of a horror film. It’s unclear how long ago the house was abandoned, but given the broken windows and moss-covered roof, it looks as though it’s been for some time. Would you step inside?