In 2018, a buddy sent Brent Underwooda listing for a ghost town in Southern California as a joke. Cerro Gordo, located just above Death Valley, was an abandoned silver mining town straight out of the Wild West movies that Underwood had grown up watching with his grandfather.
“I was just immediately entranced,” says Underwood. He owned a bed-and-breakfast in an old Victorian mansion in Austin, TX, and worked as a book editor. But he was restless. “I was looking for the next project.”
He called the real estate agent for the roughly 360-acre property, who laughed at Underwood and told him to get in line with all of the other prospective buyers.
But Underwood couldn’t let it go.
He started reading about the gun-slinging history of the town where the old brothel still stands. It was a lawless place 150 years ago—outlaws such as Butch Cassidy were said to have passed through and newspapers reported a murder a week.
Underwood persuaded some friends to throw in money for the town and took out a loan against his B&B.
Cerro Gordo was initially listed for $925,000, but sold for about $1.4 million in a bidding war. Underwood closed on Cerro Gordo, about an hour’s drive from the nearest town with a store, on Friday the 13th in 2018.
“It was very fitting,” says Underwood, 36. “I remember getting to the base on the hill after buying it and [the real estate agent] just handed me a key ring with a couple dozen keys of various sizes. He said something like ‘Good luck.'”
His book on his experiences in Cerro Gordo, “Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley,” was released in March.
Underwood is part of an extremely small group of people who have purchased ghost towns. These rare properties appeal to buyers around the world, who are drawn by the history, natural beauty, and potential business opportunities these towns present.
Some of these folks want to live off the grid or use them as second homes. Others are painstakingly restoring these remnants of U.S. history and creating artist communities, tourism attractions, and retreats.
While it’s uncommon to see these towns go up for sale in their entirety, the owner of a 2-acre parcel in Cisco, UT, plans to list it for sale this month. The property includes a log cabin, a smattering of buildings, and an old post office, which is used as a short-term rental on Airbnb.
“People just really want to own their own piece of history. You’re purchasing an authentic Wild West town. It’s darn cool to own your own town,” says real estate broker Jake Rasmuson, of Bishop Real Estate in Bishop, CA, on the California-Nevada border. He was the listing agent for Cerro Gordo.
“There just aren’t that many of these properties around.”
However, many of these towns have been vacant for decades. They might not have running water or electricity. And they require significant investment and labor to become habitable once again.
“It’s quite expensive when you have to factor everything in,” says Rasmuson. “You’re going to live there and have to work there consistently. You’re going to have to love what you do.”
Underwood has been living in Cerro Gordo full time since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. There is also a town manager and a rotating cast of volunteers who help with restoration, cleanup, and other projects. There are about 15 buildings on the property, including an old general store, miner cabins, the former brothel, and a hoist house for the mine shaft. Water has to be trucked into town and put into storage tanks.
He is renovating the old hotel in the town and plans to reopen it at the end of the year with a bar and restaurant. He hopes to eventually rent out cabins and campsites in the town.
“We’re trying to preserve the history of the place and let people come up and look around,” he says.
Underwood does much of the restoration work himself, but he brings contractors in to frame buildings and do the electrical and plumbing. He funds it through his book editing job and his YouTube channel. There is a gift shop attached to the old general store, which has been transformed into a museum.
“There’s no guidebook to bringing a ghost town back to life,” says Underwood. “So a lot of it has been learning by experience.”
Who wants to buy a ghost town?
As home prices have soared in recent years, the idea of buying a whole town at a low price is certainly attractive. It might also appeal to a prospective buyer’s sense of adventure, say real estate agents and owners of ghost towns.
“It’s people seeking a different way of life from what they’ve been accustomed to,” says Realtor® John Shaver, with Realty Executives Arizona Territory in Pearce, AZ. He’s listed several properties in old ghost towns. “Some people want that, and some people think they want that until they see what’s involved in it. And then they say, ‘That’s a little bit too primitive for me.'”
These properties are good for vacation homes for individuals and large families who like to go hiking and four-wheeling as well as those seeking to live off the grid, says Shaver. They often appeal to folks from other parts of the country, such as the Midwest, who come to Arizona for the winter. They even attract international buyers.
Some buyers want to monetize the towns. They might hope to promote tourism; create theme parks, wellness retreats, and marijuana grow sites; or start artist communities. Some towns have mining claims that allow the new owners to try their luck at striking it rich (just like the original draw of the Wild West).
“Every person has their own idea,” says Rasmuson. He worked on the sale of the Hard Luck Castle and Mine in a ghost town in Northern Nevada. (The owner offers it up on Airbnb.) He also sold the ghost town of Swansea, CA, which is now used for educational purposes. “People want to leave their mark on history.”
Many of these places are rich in natural beauty.
That, along with the history of these forgotten places, was a strong draw for John Voight, the owner of Sunrise, WY, an abandoned iron mining town. He started the Sunrise Historic and Prehistoric Preservation Society to preserve the town’s legacy as well as artifacts that he says date back 15,000 years.
“What we are doing is trying to preserve all the fantastic history that is here,” says Voight, 68, an entertainer and real estate investor. He grew up on a ranch about 60 miles away and splits his time between fixing up the town and maintaining the ranch.
In 2011, he purchased the ghost town with its 100 empty homes and three iron ore deposits on about 1,400 acres. (He has since bought more land bringing it up to 1,800 or 1,900 acres.) He lives in a three-bedroom, one-bathroom, century-old brick home on the property and grows wine grapes, apples, peaches, pears, and plums there. He hopes to put in some nut trees.
“It’s a fascinating part of the Old West,” says Voight. “The place is absolutely charming. It’s in a canyon, it’s remote. It’s just gorgeous, it’s peaceful.”
The challenges of living in a ghost town
While it’s easy to romanticize daily life in a ghost town, the reality is often very different.
What many people don’t realize is that many of these towns don’t have running water, so pricey water systems need to be built or water needs to be trucked in. Many of these towns aren’t hooked up to the electrical grid and getting internet access can be expensive. These areas are also often miles from the nearest grocery store.
Ghost towns “can be giant money pits,” says Underwood. “Be prepared to spend five to 10 times what you expect it would cost to do anything in the town.”
It can be challenging to finance the purchase of a ghost town.
“There’s not a lot of [mortgage lenders] who want to lend money for a ghost town that’s miles and miles from civilization without water,” says real estate broker Rasmuson.
Living alone in a secluded area can also be dangerous.
Eileen Muza, 39, who bought a Utah ghost town in 2015 has been harassed by unwanted visitors and even sought a protective order. (Muza identifies as nonbinary.) Muza is now selling the property, but not due to safety concerns.
“I can’t say that it’s been super easy for me there,” says Muza. They emphasized they haven’t always been safe. “If a woman or another nonbinary person or queer person did want to buy it, I would definitely want to talk to them first.”
Living alone in a ghost town
Muza was flying to Utah to visit Canyonlands National Park when the woman in the seat beside them said something that would change the trajectory of Muza’s life. The woman suggested Muza visit the abandoned railroad town of Cisco, UT, which was on the way to the national park.
This was about 10 years ago, and Muza fell in love with the town and saw the potential for an artist community.
They called the owner and asked if he would sell it.
“He said yes right away,” says Muza. “That took me by surprise.”
That’s how Muza came to own a 2-acre parcel in Cisco, where they live with their dogs and chickens. It includes an old post office, which has been renovated and is available on Airbnb, and a log cabin where they live. There is also a 1950s Spartan Mansion (a trailer that can be lived in), art installations, and a skate park on the property—but there is no running water.
“I had just turned 30 and wanted to do something kind of wild. I wanted to go on a last adventure,” says Muza. During the pandemic, they went days without seeing another person. “It’s a different way of living that doesn’t compare to anything you see in the city. You wake up and you do whatever you need to do that day.”
Muza plans to put the town up for sale this month.
“I’ve given it almost 10 years now. I met someone and fell in love, and she doesn’t want to live in the ghost town,” says Muza. They plan to move to the Milwaukee area. “It might be time for somebody else to have an adventure there.”
