Most people looking for a change of scenery might move house, switch jobs or book a one-way flight somewhere.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Brent Underwood took things considerably further – he bought an entire abandoned town.
In 2018, Underwood purchased Cerro Gordo, a former silver-mining settlement in California, for a staggering $1.4 million after a friend sent him the property listing in the middle of the night.
The message was initially little more than a joke, suggesting the ghost town could be his “next thing”.
But Underwood was intrigued enough to research Cerro Gordo the following morning before eventually travelling to California to see it for himself.
He later recalled to the New York Post: “I’ve always had a love of history and hospitality.”
“There’s a romanticism to the West that’s pulled millions of people out here, and it had a hold on me early.”
Buying the place wasn’t exactly a small financial commitment either.
Underwood put his life savings into the purchase, took out a high-interest loan and brought in others to help fund the deal.
Cerro Gordo had once been a thriving mining community, home to thousands of people and hundreds of buildings during its peak in the 1870s.
By the time Underwood arrived, however, only around 20 historic buildings remained.
“You drive and drive and finally come around the last corner, and the town reveals itself, a beautiful collection of buildings that looks like it’s frozen in time from the 1800s,” he said.
Underwood initially didn’t intend to live there permanently.
But after moving to Cerro Gordo full-time in March 2020, he remained, dedicating himself to restoring and preserving the settlement.
Life there is considerably different from living in a normal neighbourhood.
The remote town has no running water, while the nearest neighbours are dozens of miles away.
That level of isolation might sound terrifying to some people, but Underwood has grown to appreciate it.
“I’ve always been a bit of an introvert, so the solitude doesn’t bother me much,” he explained.
“I don’t have neighbours for dozens of miles in any direction, which means any way that I look there is an adventure to be had. I love that. There’s something very beautiful about living so far away from (other people). There isn’t the ambient noise that you have in cities, but don’t really realise until you’ve left.”
The town still contains remarkable remnants of its past.
Underwood has turned its former general store into a museum, while other surviving structures include a historic bunkhouse, the remains of an old brothel and a building converted into a church and movie theatre.
Beneath the settlement, the Union Mine descends around 900 feet underground.
And despite spending years exploring and restoring his unusual home, Underwood believes there’s plenty more left to discover.
His long-term ambition is to preserve Cerro Gordo’s history while creating somewhere visitors can eventually experience for themselves.
What started with a late-night joke has ultimately become something much bigger: Underwood’s home, project and purpose.
Featured image credit: Brent Underwood / Instagram
