From a regal family estate to a raucous nightclub, the tale behind this abandoned mansion isn’t short of twists and turns. Captured by Leland Kent for Abandoned Southeast, click or scroll through to take a tour and discover the fascinating history behind this derelict mock castle.
After Robert Brinkley Snowden graduated from Princeton, he returned to his hometown of Memphis in Tennessee to build his family estate. A prominent real estate developer, he completed Ashlar Hall in 1896, aptly named after its Ashlar stone construction. The final cost of the grand home was $25,000, equivalent to around $768,000 today.
After his death in 1942, Ashlar Hall was passed onto Snowden's heirs. But the upkeep proved to be too much and the family filed an application with the city for non-residential use of the building. By the 1950s, it had been transformed into a restaurant.
However, around 1990, eccentric Memphis millionaire Robert Hodges, also known as Prince Mongo, purchased the hall. The quirky buyer is known for his unconventional lifestyle – he claims to be a 333-year-old refugee from a planet called Zambodia.
Also known for running in nearly every Memphis mayoral election since the late 70s, he hit the headlines in 2009 when he was spotted campaigning without his wacky costume. However, despite his numerous attempts, the self-proclaimed Prince hasn't won an election to date.
Prince Mongo turned Ashlar Hall into a thriving local late-night hangout called The Castle. However, in these images captured in 2017, the hall is a far cry from its heyday, with peeling wallpaper, graffitied walls and an abandoned piano in the entryway.
With the promise of cheap beer and wet T-shirt contests, partygoers in Memphis flooded to the unusual new venue. This old sign left to languish in the property shows the opening times – the pool had to be emptied at eight in the evening, but the nightclub remained open until the early hours.
Inside, the expensive abandoned mansion has 11,000 square feet of space spread over two floors, encompassing eight rooms, a basement, a large attic and even servants' quarters. Outside, the property sits in 3,000 acres of land that includes an unusual-shaped swimming pool.
The double-height entryway would have been a regal entrance to the nightclub for many a reveler. However, in more recent years, the Ashlar stone has turned grubby, graffiti lines the wall and the ceiling is peeling after being left open to the elements.
Upstairs, the carpet is littered with debris and the décor is time-worn. The main hallway branches off to numerous rooms that would have once been the hub of the late-night parties.
Eventually in the late 1990s, amid mounting pressure from the surrounding neighborhood, the club was shut down. However, according to local legend, Prince Mongo was not deterred. He purportedly dumped 800 tons of sand in the parking lot and continued the party outside.
Once closed, the castle sat vacant for years and descended into a state of disrepair. It's clear to see that it's been long abandoned, with trash piled up in the corners and layers of grime that have built up over time – a true riches to ruins story.
Many of Mongo's possessions were left behind in the wake of The Castle's final raucous party, including this old reel-to-reel tape recorder that no doubt got plenty of use.
In 2013, a nonprofit organization acquired Ashlar Hall through a quitclaim deed from Prince Mongo. The organization sought financing to transform the building into a rehabilitation center for veterans.
From crumbling staircases and faded entrance halls to graffiti-clad walls, pictured here, the property is almost unrecognizable from its regal heyday and in need of a complete overhaul. We wonder what the developers thought when they first stepped through the door...
However, not everything went to plan. According to an account the then-owner gave to the Memphis Daily News, a contractor he hired took pieces of copper from the roof, along with original stonework and beams, none of which were recovered.
Blue tarpaulin that once covered portions of the roof is dangling in front of the building, leaving the hall exposed to the elements. The gates are now securely shut, but the windows have been left ajar, almost as though someone left in a rush.
The huge expanse of concrete to the rear of the property would once have been filled with hundreds of revelers, but today it's an abandoned space being slowly reclaimed by weeds. But it's not all doom and gloom for this once-grand home. In 2016, real estate contractor and investor Juan Montoya purchased the derelict property and work is already underway.
In another twist of events, the Daily Memphian reported that a ‘Stop Work' order was issued in February 2020 for failure to obtain a building permit for repairs to the property. With renovations now ground to a halt, permits have been applied for and are awaiting approval. Only time will tell if this abandoned mansion can be brought back to life again...
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