The Dunnington Mansion, also known as Poplar Hill has always been a favorite house of mine. Even in its state of ruin it is still an amazingly beautiful home. When you drive up to it, it will literally take your breath away. I have posted interior pictures of the Dunnington Mansion before and you can see those here.
I was quite happy when someone emailed me pictures from an old brochure they found! I am assuming this was from when it was for sale back in the 1990’s.
It was purchased by a development group. They turned the property around the Dunnington Mansion into a golf course, known as The Manor. The plan was to build a hotel and spa. The Dunnington Mansion was going to be used as club house and an event center. The picture below is from the early 1900’s.
Back in 2008 when the economy tanked, their plans were put on hold indefinitely. I was first inside the home back in 2014.
At that time there were boxes of old original light fixtures they had boxed up. It seems they were packing the house up so they could start a serious restoration on it. A shame the economy tanked.
I was then inside the home in 2016. All of those boxes of light fixtures were long gone and the house was in serious disrepair. Some floors upstairs were not safe at all.
In 2016 I would say it was still a doable project if someone had very deep pockets. I have seen worse, like the Allen House, but the Dunnington Mansion is so large, it would really take someone that had done previous restorations.
