8. Pope Mansion, Buschwick

Interior room of the lost Pope Mansion in Brooklyn
Pope Mansion photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History

Geroge Pope inherited a fortune from his brother and poured the money into making his Buschwick home as lavish as possible. Geroge’s brother John built a fortune in the tobacco industry. When he met an untimely death, his millions were distributed amongst his friends and four siblings. While his three sisters got a mere $140,000, the bulk of the fortune went to his brother George.

Inside the mansion at 871 Bushwick Avenue, George filled the rooms with 22k-gold chandeliers, expensive oriental rugs, pianos, and ornate stained glass windows likely by Tiffany. He even spent $140 on a white peacock for the yard. George, like his brother, died young, at the age of 48. The mansion, which had been valued at $2 million dollars, was sold to the Jewish Home for the Aged and Infirm (later known as the Menorah Home) for just $150,000. The mansion was demolished in the 1950s.