Abandoned Illinois Mansion With a Desert Theme and Giant Cactus Sculptures

I had no idea what to call this place. It’s a mansion in the middle of Illinois that was being turned into a desert themed, Native American resort, theme park thing. The neighbor told us the old owner was making some kind of theme park. The exact location stays off this page.

I explored it with Kaizer.

What we found

The first thing you notice is glitter on the ceiling, plus cute wallpaper and a chandelier. It’s absolutely destroyed in places, and plants have fallen through. The bathroom has two sinks and a jacuzzi, and a fake tree grows through the middle of it with a leaf shaped seat. We stood on the tub to film the intro. There are skylights in the ceiling, so you barely need a flashlight in the daytime.

We found a tiger and a lion as decor, and a gorgeous fireplace. It almost looks like a bed and breakfast, with well designed closets and some nice wood. The ceiling is falling apart in spots. The tile has little designs inside it that look Native American.

The kitchen still has its cabinets, a small double oven, and a built in cutting board. I found a can opener I liked, and I stepped on glass at one point. Something I noticed is that there is no graffiti. People have broken things, but there’s no spray paint, and the place is in the middle of nowhere. There’s also a basement. One part showed a water line on the walls, though it wasn’t flooded when we got there.

Upstairs there’s a balcony, a skylight, and a small washer and dryer. The owner built a cactus out there and put little goats and a cow out by it. A few cabinets are moldy, the door is covered in mold, and there’s rust in places.

The garage holds three cars and is a little flooded. The lighting up there is great, with light coming down from above, and there are small shelves for knickknacks. The ladder to a little attic wasn’t stable and was bending in half. The hot tub controls are still there, and the bathroom door was frozen to the ground. There’s a small wine cellar, and a vanity that looks nice, and a wasp nest, which was fine because it was winter.

Out back, a covered walkway is now covered by trees, and a patio leads to the in ground pool. The hot tub sat right there, and the pool is pretty deep with cactus designs around it. It once had a cover. This is where the owner’s idea shows. It’s a mansion that he was making into a bed and breakfast with extra amenities.

The last stop was the sculptures. Giant sculptures of Native Americans sit in the trees, made of something that doesn’t look like rock, maybe plaster over wire, with pipe rungs for structure. They look painted, and they look unfinished. There are cactuses in every size, some in lava rock texture and some painted green or blue, with plaster coming off. One figure had oversized hands and a camo looking jacket, and I couldn’t tell what the idea behind it was. Last came the chief, and the tallest cactus.

Why places like this end up empty

I can’t tell you why this one stopped. The neighbor’s version is that the owner was building a theme park, and a house built around one person’s idea is a hard thing to hand off.

Midwest Design quoted an architect saying it’s difficult to find an owner interested in something that specific. A preservationist in the same piece said anyone with enough money for the land will gladly tear down these architectural gems. The piece describes a different lakefront estate, listed in 2007 for $53.5 million, that went about a decade without a buyer and was torn down after a sale to someone planning a single family home. The Star Tribune reported the city issued the permit because the house had no historic designation.

The tallest cactus was the last thing I filmed.