'Nearby residents opposed the plan citing the complex would lower their property values and increase traffic congestion on an already busy six-lane highway. To fund the restoration, the couple planned to sell 11-acres to Birmingham-based LIV Development and proposed building a 242-unit apartment and townhome complex. 'Gary and Dana English purchased the 17-acre estate in 2014 for $2 million with plans for restoration. However, those involved never received their money back since LeClaire sold or hid all of his assets. 'A judge ordered John LeClaire to pay restitution of $37,000 for unfair business practices.

'After securing several deposits from unassuming couples, LeClaire left with the money and abandoned the property. He kept four Clydesdales in the horse stables. 'LeClaire moved into the carriage house with very little furniture and set up the main house as a wedding venue. 'In 2012, John LeClaire, a paralegal and online poker player, made a lease-purchase agreement with a local investment group. The home was sold to a Virginia-based development firm for $7.7 million 'Soon after, it was foreclosed upon and then purchased by a local investment group for $1.7 million. The new owner, Aleem Hussain, the majority holder of a development company, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2007 for running a $9 million real-estate scam. 'In February 2006, at the height of Florida's housing boom, his company, Desert Bear, sold the property for $4 million. According to officials, there was no indication that he had any links to terrorism. 'In a conversation with an informant, he made inquiries about bringing in Arabs from Saudi Arabia and Brazil to attend a flight school in Florida. 'The FBI interviewed Khalil bin Laden after the attacks since he had suspicious connections to a region of Brazil known for terrorism. 'Eight days later, fearing for their safety following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the wealthy businessman along with many of his relatives fled the United States on a private jet under police escort and never returned. On September 11, 2001, he along with his wife Isabel and their son Sultan were at the vacation home. 'Under bin Laden's ownership, the home was referred to as Desert Bear. 'In 1980, Khalil bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden's 54 siblings, purchased the home for his wife as a wedding gift through his company, Desert Bear, for $1.6 million.Ī large living room inside the now abandoned home is pictured here, with one window boarded up citizenship to avoid taxes, and moved to an island off the coast of Costa Rica. 'Shortly afterward, he divorced his wife, gave up his U.S. 'After a falling out with his vice-president Brownie Wise, which resulted in her dismissal in 1958, Tupper sold The Tupperware Company to Rexall Drug Company for $16 million. In 1952, Tupper moved his corporate headquarters from Massachusetts to Orlando, Florida. Tupper, founder of The Tupperware Company. 'In the 1950s, the property was owned by Earl S. 'Constructed in 1928, the home was originally built as a vacation home for William Pratt, a New York native and the chemist who helped invent Jell-O,' said Leland on his blog. He returned in 2023 to a much more empty home with no signs of life for many years. Leland has had the privilege of visiting this mansion twice, once in 2016 when it still had furniture, plants and even a canon on the property. The Mediterranean-style 5,854-square-foot mansion features five bedrooms, five bathrooms, arched doorways and hallways, a swimming pool, horse stables, a four-car detached garage, a 3,000-square-foot carriage house, and 1,200 feet of private shoreline. The property is linked to Osama bin Laden, founder of the terrorist organization al Qaeda and mastermind behind the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center

Abandoned castle with swimming pool