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Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy
That’s really cool! I’m another that would love to know the story. How does what was once a beautiful large and expensive house become totally abandoned and fall into such a state? There has to be a story associated with that.
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I think that it might happen pretty often, especially within wealthy families. Fashion and circumstance change and the heirs would be able to afford to ignore and abandon expensive homes that wage slaves like us would want try and make a go of. Or, maybe the upkeep is too much for a third generation family member where the interest on the family fortune isn't keeping up with the times...
Here's one story -
JR Simplot, the potato magnate, built a mansion on top of a hill in Boise, but he built it late in his life after all his kids were grown; after a time, it became impractical for him so he moved into a downtown Boise apartment (Insert small-town downtown jokes here!).
None of the family members were interested in living in the mansion, so he offered it to the state of Idaho with the idea that it would become the Governors mansion. That didn't work out at all and so the bulldozers came and scraped it off the top of the hill leaving only an enormous American flag to mark the spot. The Simplot fortune provides upkeep for a greenspace and flag maintenance in memory of the spud king.