If you like touring Victorian houses, would you like it if one were kept intact but in unrestored / moldering condition?

Here in Memphis, the Lowenstien house built in 1891 in the historic Victorian Village district, is up for sale. Truly one of the last of its kind: an untouched, deteriorating, largely undiscovered Victorian mansion. Over 20,000 square feet, fantastically detailed with every Victorian architectural bric-a-brac imaginable.

The mansion is located at 756 Jefferson Avenue, and built in the Italianate and Romanesque Revival style.

There are several palacial Victorian mansions and bed-and-breakfasts in this area that have been beautifully and fully restored. The beauty of these homes is breathtaking and they are used also for weddings. But the Lowenstien house is unrestored and that, to me, is part of the attraction.

What about touring a house that looks like, well, the Addams Family or the Munsters, or a classic haunted house—or what your great great grandparents moved out of 30 years ago?

I love an old house to be funky, with character, and dripping with age and deterioration and mystery.

How about a tour home that really looked old and decaying and maybe had a few weird things in it from when it was an art school or a psychological rehabilitation center?

What could be done with an untouched Victorian house? Make a tour home of it as is? Use it for a museum or art gallery or hostel? Would YOU like to see or tour an untouched Victorian mansion?

I’d sure like to pay ten to fifteen bucks just to see a haunted-looking untouched Victorian mansion every now and then. And I hate that this one will go to become law offices or a perfectly restored bed and breakfast.

Any thoughts on the subject?