2023 Update -That huge abandoned Mansion south of Houston

[Michelle]

m.facebook.com/TheBaileyHouseVetFacility/

Someone bought it and is making it an awesome nonprofit facility!


Edit - perhaps it hasn't been purchased. Further reading indicates the owner is a Vet and is willing to let the property be converted.
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2023 edit way at the bottom.
or here for quick access: www.businessinsider.com/46-bedroom-texas-house-hits-the-market-for-35-million-2015-6?fbclid=IwAR3z53FIURdKiUAb8Ueo_OcKUDrYf46sXZKgeq8GfuuasRduUxkLN7d1-7A#hopefully-youngblood-told-the-local-abc-affiliate-we-can-make-it-to-where-its-an-asset-for-the-community-and-the-neighborhood-as-well-19

[wambam]

Oh good! Did anyone ever prove that a polygamist built it or was hat just a rumor I'm remembering?

[Michelle]

Apr 2, 2017 12:41:29 GMT -5 wambam said:

Oh good! Did anyone ever prove that a polygamist built it or was hat just a rumor I'm remembering?

I think that was a rumor... One I have never heard actually.

[pagas]

No one bought it, it's still for sale
www.har.com/2354-county-road-59/sale_62437224

[nikki25]

Apr 2, 2017 18:41:58 GMT -5 pagas said:

No one bought it, it's still for sale
www.har.com/2354-county-road-59/sale_62437224

That could be wrong and/or they are still in the process of buying the facility which explains why it is stil for sale.

[Aquatica]

That is amazing!

[Michelle]

Apr 2, 2017 18:41:58 GMT -5 pagas said:

No one bought it, it's still for sale
www.har.com/2354-county-road-59/sale_62437224

Upon further reading the original owner may be working with them to convert the property.

pagas you could go there on April 8. There is a meet and greet on the property on April 8 at 10 AM. Check out the FB page linked above for more info.

[GilliC]

Side note: Are the property taxes on that place really $1M per year?!

(They HAD to have been planning to register as a religious organization of some sort. Aren't religious organizations exempt from property tax on personages? [Thanks, John Oliver!])

[Michelle]

Apr 3, 2017 2:49:45 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Side note: Are the property taxes on that place really $1M per year?!

(They HAD to have been planning to register as a religious organization of some sort. Aren't religious organizations exempt from property tax on personages? [Thanks, John Oliver!])

They wouldn't have been all that high when it was built. Was almost nothing around there. Since then tons of neighborhoods have been built, a huge shopping mall complex and lots of stores Have been built, a dozen schools. Huge growth all around it.

The story is a wealthy Doctor built it for his wife. She didn't like the facade so he didn't finish it and built another one right next door. There is truly a similarly sized monstrosity in the lot next door.

[Michelle]

m.chron.com/neighborhood/pearland/real-estate/article/Pearland-area-55-bedroom-house-going-for-3-5-6236483.php

This contradicts the wife rumor. I live on the other side of HWY 288 off the same road those houses are on. The wife rumor has persisted in our community...

[Michelle]

www.houstonpress.com/news/inside-pearlands-mystery-mansion-6714481

[Michelle]

The original owner died last year.

m.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?n=ulysses-watkins&pid=179898871&referrer=0&preview=false

[Michelle]

Aerial photos
homesoftherich.net/2009/03/weirdest-mega-mansions-youll-ever-see/

[aprilsails]

So I lived next door to a house like this growing up.

The story was that a rich American Doctor built the house in the middle of nowhere outside of Ottawa, Canada in the mid-70s (I lived on 50 acres next door) for his wife and 10 daughters. The wife died and so they never moved in. The house has 12 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, a huge inground pool and the biggest kitchen I've ever seen. However, from the road it looks like a little tiny 1 storey bungalow (it's not- it's built into a hill that drops down towards the river in back which you can't see from the road).

They never moved in. It was a residential facility for low functioning autistic teens in the 80s when I was a kid. However one of them drowned in the pool and it closed down and was empty for about 4 years. It was later bought by some British ex-pats who wanted to retire there with their 7 year old son. They spent 10 YEARS renovating the place on their own and then opened it up as a B&B. It only operated for about 5 years and is now empty again.

I dream of that kitchen still- it looked like something out of a palace- 2x2' black and white marble tiles in a diamond pattern, monstrous mahogany island and a huge cast iron pot rack above. I think it was the same size as the entire first floor of our house. The son had a Lego room and the house had a herb garden in a courtyard in the centre so bedrooms had windows facing in. My little brother basically lived there in the summer as he was the same age as the son.

[Michelle]

Reviving a super old thread that referred to an even older one.

From time to time we talk about megamansions - this one was abandoned and FINALLY has a purpose.

www.businessinsider.com/46-bedroom-texas-house-hits-the-market-for-35-million-2015-6?fbclid=IwAR3z53FIURdKiUAb8Ueo_OcKUDrYf46sXZKgeq8GfuuasRduUxkLN7d1-7A#hopefully-youngblood-told-the-local-abc-affiliate-we-can-make-it-to-where-its-an-asset-for-the-community-and-the-neighborhood-as-well-19

[pixy0stix]

The fact that he continually kept remodeling for failed venture after failed venture makes the whole property haunted to me. Even if there are no ghosts.

[rubytue]

Interesting. We had a mansion like this growing up, it overlooked a lake that was the west boarder of town (so it wasn’t in my town, but had a presence). Built with illegal money (anyone remember the S&L baking crisis in the 80s?). Over the years, they tried turning it into all sorts of places, like a rehab facility and such, but it never succeeded. Last I heard, it was still standing, abandoned. www.easttnnews.com/east-tn-local-news/whirlwind-s-faded-glory/