A half-finished, half-abandoned mansion in the Sussex countryside became the object of terror among disgruntled locals and came to be known as the 'Haunted House of Sussex'. The
Hamilton Place building towers over a leafy setting south of Uckfield and was once said to be the most expensive private house ever built in Britain.
When development began in 1985, the estimated cost was £40 million, but these days that doesn't seem like much for a building bigger than Buckingham Palace.
READ MORE: Putin's nuclear attack on Britain will starve 90% of Argentina's best survival options
But surprisingly, the mansion remains no more than a giant empty shell lying unfinished after 37 years,reports SussexLive.
Hamilton Place, designed for British billionaire Nicholas van Hoogstraten, one of Sussex's richest men, is something else.
It has never been inhabited by anyone and is unlikely to ever be inhabited, yet it is heavily invested.
Today the house is completely covered in dense woods with a sign that reads "High Cross Estate, Private Property, Keep Out" in capital letters.
The closest glimpse travelers can get on foot, aside from the brick units and large white containers, is the gated entrance to the estate.
But "shootings in progress," "dogs running free," and multiple other signs warning that CCTV is in action have a distinct sense of unease.
There is a clear message not to try to get in from the latest drone shots and old photos taken on site when the work was still underway.
These pictures show an eerie building covered in scaffolding and overgrown foliage, filled with discarded containers, construction equipment and other items. scattered throughout the premises. For a long time nothing seems to have happened here.
Few people have been inside, but in 2000 he was said to be two years away from completion. A reporter described the central grand staircase and reception hall. pillar.
Low level lighting was installed on the roof, with a garden and space below for a fountain. One entire floor was for Haus Van Hoogstraten's art his collection.
Today, the domed roof of the main building still rises above the tree line and can be seen from a distance from the nearest homes in the Palehouse Common hamlet.
Now 77 years old, Van Hoogstraten named Nicholas von Hessen, a Shoreham-born Sussex native, owns dozens of properties in the area.
He is said to have started making money selling stamps in his teens, but then he moved into real estate, and by the age of 22 he had 350 properties in Sussex alone. I owned.
During the housing boom of the 1980s, he acquired over 2,000 of his properties, of which he had sold 90% by the 1990s.
For the past 20 years he has been involved in disputes with neighbors over large plots of land. I've been Estate.
Locals have previously complained about large areas being left unused and van Hoogstraten not wanting to use them, leading to public transport passing through them. There was a dispute over the sidewalk.
In response to these complaints, he reportedly said:
He also denied that the house was in ruins, stating that "Rather than 'break down', Hamilton Palace was built to last at least 2,000 years."
The property is now believed to be owned by his children through Messina Investments. It is
To get more articles from Daily Star delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our free newsletter Here
Read more:
