Canada's largest abandoned mansion features boat garage and lighthouse (2024)

FAQs

Where is the largest abandoned mansion in Canada? ›

At 65,000 square feet, this vacant mansion goes by different names – Haileybury House, Peter Grant Mansion or simply “Canada's Largest Mansion”. It was built along the shores of Lake Temiskaming in Northern Ontario by Peter Grant Junior.

Recognized as the largest abandoned home in the entire country, this absolute beast boasts 65,000 square feet of (now unused) space and sits on 43-acres of prime lakeside real estate in Haileybury, Ontario, about 5 and a half hours north of Toronto.

1. Lynnewood Hall, Pennsylvania. A neo-classical revival marvel built in Elkins Park between 1897 and 1900 for someone considered as one of America's richest people and copious art collector, Peter Anel Browne Widener, was once one of the finest real estate examples which are now dilapidated and abandoned.

Located about five hours north of Toronto, Ontario, the Peter Grant Mansion is the largest home in Canada.

Undone by the financial crisis

The global economic recession had financially crippled him and in 2009 – after filing for court protection from creditors, with roughly CAD$600 million ($479m/£353m) of debt – all of the company's assets, including the mansion, were put up for sale.

Istana Nurul Imam Palace, Brunei

It is the world's largest private residence with a 2.15 million square feet area. It has 1788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, a banquet hall with a capacity of 5000 guests, and a mosque accommodating 1500 people.

Now's your chance to own a piece of Canadian history.

The three most vacant cities in the U.S. are all in Florida: Orlando, Miami, and Tampa. These cities are known for tourism and vacation homes, which means houses sit vacant for much of the year. More than 16 million housing units in the U.S. are vacant, bringing the overall vacancy rate to 11.6%.

Forest industry mogul Peter Grant planned a palace on Lake Temiskaming. It was to feature waterfalls, an art gallery, golf course and an enormous boathouse and at 65-thousand square feet it was to be the largest house in Canada. But over a decade later, it has never been finished or lived in.

The First Korean Church of New York, which still owns the property, took ownership in 1996 for a sale recorded at $0, according to Montgomery County property records.

What is the scariest abandoned place? ›

Quebec is home to dozens of the oldest buildings in Canada, but the Maison des Jésuites-de-Sillery is the oldest in the entire country. Located in Quebec City, it was part of the first establishment built in New France by the Jesuits, who were on a mission to evangelize the Indigenous population.

Antilia soars high above the city of Mumbai as one of the world's most elaborate and expensive homes. The 27-story home owned by business magnate Mukesh Ambani is estimated to cost between $1 and $2 billion.

“Investor speculation and short-term rentals are the main culprits behind high vacancy rates in places like Toronto and Vancouver.” The report states 66,000 homes are sitting empty in Toronto, and around 64,000 vacant homes are in Montreal.

A ghost town is a town that once had a considerable population, that has since dwindled in numbers causing some or all its business to close, either due to the rerouting of a highway, train tracks being pulled, or exhaustion of some natural resource. List of ghost towns in Alberta.

The buyer of the Bel-Air mega mansion dubbed 'The One' has been revealed to be none other than Fashion Nova CEO Richard Saghian days after the estate sold well below its asking price at auction.

Mansions, palaces, hotels and entire villages have been abandoned across Europe as economic recessions force more and more people to large cities, and increasing numbers of childless owners pass away without passing property on.

Most Beautiful House in the World 1: Dracula Palace, Romania

Known as Bran Palace but famous as Dracula Palace in the rest of the world, it is a national monument and a very important landmark in Romania. Around 1920, the Brand Castle was the official seat of the Kingdom of Romania.

After seven years in the making, Bill Gates' mega-mansion 'Xanadu 2.0', takes the top spot at a whopping $125 million!

Why is Ocean Falls abandoned? ›

At the time, industry in the town was owned by Crown Zellerbach and in 1973, the company pulled its interests out of the town, leaving almost no people behind. After it became too costly to use the land near Ocean Falls, the town died and essentially became abandoned.

Town buy-and-sell has become a niche market in Canada, and is certainly one of the stranger trends in a country that has gone real estate crazy. A former settlement in B.C. is currently listed at $1.2 million; another north of Montreal is up for $2.8 million, and others are privately owned in the Prairies.

Why did Ghost Town in the Sky close? As beautiful as Maggie Valley is, it couldn't attract the number of tourists needed to support the park. At one time, Ghost Town served as a worthy rival to the pre-Dollywood Silver Dollar City/Goldrush Junction theme parks.

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, a large city that's known for its marble buildings, is referred to as "the city of the dead."

Hashima Island, Japan

Hashima Island was once the most densely populated island in the world; now it's completely empty. People became interested in the Nagasaki island after finding an underwater coal deposit directly under it.

Who Owns The Land In Canada? Nearly 90% is publicly owned by and managed by provincial, territorial and federal governments. Of this total, 41% is federal crown land. This is the term used to describe land owned by federal or provincial government entities.

The most expensive house in the world and the world's biggest house is Buckingham Palace, owned by the King Charles III in right of the United Kingdom Crown with an estimated value of $6.7 billion.

The Word's Most Expensive House: Mukesh Ambani's $1 billion Property. The 27-floor private tower in the heart of Mumbai has been classified as “the most expensive residence in the world” by Forbes magazine.

Hershey loved new and innovative things, according to Pam Whitenack, the director of the Hershey Community Archives. That is likely why he purchased a ticket for $300 to sail on the Titanic, which left on its maiden voyage with 2,224 passengers and crew from Southampton, UK, on April 10, 1912.

Currently, we are not able to offer tours to the public.

Who was the richest man to go down on the Titanic? ›

John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest passenger aboard Titanic. He was the head of the Astor family, with a personal fortune of approximately $150,000,000. Born on 13 July 1864 to William Astor, he was educated at St. Paul's School, Concord and later went to Harvard.

Urban exploration (often shortened as UE, urbex and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking) is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment.

Death Valley, California. This place got its name from a group of pioneers who were lost there in the 1800's.

ServiceNow CEO Bought a $43 Million Laguna Beach House – DIRT.

Rapper 50 Cent bought former boxer Mike Tyson's 50,000-square-foot home in Farmington, Connecticut for €3.3m ($4.4 million), according to The Sun.

The Canadian Shield contains some of the oldest rocks on Earth. In 2008, researchers estimated rock found on the northern shore of Hudson Bay, 40 km south of Inukjuak, to be 4.28 billion years old.

Annapolis Royal, N.S., is Canada's oldest town, but it only looks like it hasn't changed in centuries. A new documentary shows it was a rundown "dump" in the 1970s.

Rue du Petit-Champlain is the oldest commercial street in North America.

Who has the smallest house in the world? ›

The One SQM House

Architect Van Bo Le-Mentzel has created probably the smallest house in the world.

At its centre is Oprah's 23,000-square-foot mansion, an impressive neo-Georgian pile, and the amazing landscaped grounds include rose gardens, terraces and fountains.

Bill Gates designed and owns a mansion that overlooks Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. The 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m²) mansion incorporates technology in its design.

The person or entity that keeps or maintains abandoned property is required to report and transfer the abandoned property or its cash equivalent to Alberta Tax and Revenue Administration (TRA). Once transferred, the owner or their legal representative, or a creditor, can make a claim to that property.

In Ontario, the Escheats Act, 2015 sets out a procedure by which the Public Guardian and Trustee in Ontario may take possession of unclaimed property that has become the property of the Crown by virtue of another law or statute.

Ontario Place originally opened in 1972 as a way to promote the province. It closed down in 2012 but is still open to walk around and explore. The “abandoned” theme park attractions are found in West Island which you can access by a bridge near the Imax entrance.

Go Inside Drake's $150M Mansion, Complete With Musical Toilets And 10-Car Garage. It's no surprise that the rapper's multi-million dollar Toronto mansion has earned the nickname “The Embassy”.

White Otter Castle is a three-storey castle designed by Jimmy McOuat near Atikokan, Ontario. He was a strange fellow, and built the castle between 1903 and 1915 to use as a dowry for a lady he wanted to marry. He drowned in 1918 while fishing, and is buried busied the castle. The property has been abandoned since.

Here it is: A mansion on Bloomington Road was built for Elton John and his partner, David Furnish of Scarborough. It's massive, with a sweet view of the Toronto skyline from its perch on the Oak Ridges Moraine between Hwy. 48 and Kennedy Road.

Drizzy's friend and fellow rapper Nicki Minaj might have accidentally slipped that he is indeed a billionaire. In Nicki's recent Instagram stories, Minaj was onboard Drake's private jet and had a lot to say about Drake's wealth status.

How many bedrooms are in Drake's house? ›

The Tuscan-style property boasts ten bedrooms and twenty-two bathrooms. According to The Daily Mail, amenities include a wine cellar, a game room, a gym, a screening room, a tennis court, an elevator, an outdoor kitchen, and a mosaic-tiled pool.

Beyoncé, Jay-Z and their three children now live in the US$88 million mansion boasting six separate structures and spanning 30,000 sq ft. The avant-garde estate includes eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms and was developed by Dean McKillen, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Istana Nurul Iman Palace, Brunei

With 1,788 rooms, a mosque and 257 bathrooms, Istana Nurul Iman Palace is the biggest mansion in the world. Also known as The Light of Faith Palace, it was designed by Leonardo Locsin.

The Biltmore Estate is the largest privately owned home in the United States. Built near Asheville, North Carolina, it is still owned by the descendants of one of America's richest families, the Vanderbilts.

All of Canada is mapped, but not all of it is explored. How can this be? As recently as 1916, the Geological Survey of Canada estimated that Canada still contained over 900,000 square miles (almost one and a half million square kilometres) of unexplored territory that appeared as blank spots on the map.

In Canada's far north, the government of Yukon Territory wants to attract small farmers to the frigid region with a simple pitch: free land.

Maison des Jésuites-de-Sillery (1637)

Quebec is home to dozens of the oldest buildings in Canada, but the Maison des Jésuites-de-Sillery is the oldest in the entire country.

The Duke of Northumberland obtained Albury Park in 1890 and still owns most of the land, known as the Albury Estate. The mansion contains 64 different mantelpieces, which were in part the work of Robert Adam.