A 25,000-square-foot mansion isn’t something you necessarily expect to find rotting away in the middle of an Iowa field. And a mansion built for Roseanne Barr no less! Yet that’s exactly what’s happening to Roseanne Barr’s half-built home outside of Eldon, Iowa.
Roseanne Barr is best-known as the star of the popular 1990s sitcom "The Roseanne Show" that portrayed a working-class, Midwest American family. The show was a hit, running for over a decade. And at the peak of the show's success, Roseanne decided to put down some roots in Iowa.
She opened a restaurant in Eldon. She parked a trailer on a farm she purchased on the outskirts of this small town. And she began to build herself a palace.
Originally intended as a getaway home for Barr and her husband Tom Arnold (an Iowa native), construction on this mansion was halted in 1994 when the two ended their relationship. Halted, and never resumed.
And it was going to feature an Olympic-sized indoor pool, a four-lane bowling alley, and a screening room just in the basement. (You know, like all mansions have.)
Youtube user Roger Riley posted a tour of this mansion in 2012; his video is a great way to explore this abandoned Iowa building that is now off limits to the public.
Did you know about this abandoned Iowa mansion moldering away in a field outside Eldon, Iowa? What other abandoned gems do you know about that were built and left to disintegrate? Here’s some road trip inspiration featuring a few others around the state.
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