Advertisement
10. Fort Wyndclyffe
Where: New York's Rhinebeck
Year: 1853
Expense: $120,000
In the Hudson River District of New York, Wyndcliffe Mansion was erected in the Norman Style by George Veitch in 1853. Originally known as Rhinecliff, Elizabeth Schermerhorn Jones was the main owner of the brick mansion. The extravagant residence served as the inspiration for the well-known expression "Keeping up with the Joneses."
Advertisement
Wyndclyffe Castle @ARTANDHOME/Twitter.com, Rhinebeck, New York
Over the following hundred years, Wyndcliffe's ownership and name changed. In 1950, it was formally abandoned. Eighty acres was the initial size of the property; however, it was reduced to barely 2.5 acres. Neglect has caused portions of the home to crumble. It cost $120,000 when it was purchased in 2016, and it will probably be demolished.
11. The Amusement Park Spreepark
Where: Germany's Berlin
Year: 1969
Expense: $65 million
Germany's Spreepark Berlin is an abandoned theme park. It had 1.5 million annual visitors at its height. The Spreepark encompassed about eighty acres. When it opened its doors in 1969, it was Berlin's only theme park, divided between East and West. It saw a significant expansion in 1991. The park was quite successful until 1999.
Spreepark Amusement Park / Twitter.com / @BerlinTourism
In 1999, Spreepark's finances started to suffer due to debt and low visitor numbers. Spreepark was forced to raise entry costs in order to pay off the debt. That further reduced the amount of visitors. Spreepark filed for bankruptcy in 2001. It has been abandoned since 2002. Norbert Witte, the original founder, ran away to Peru. In 2004 he was taken into custody for cocaine smuggling.
