When you think of famous landmarks, you picture timeless monuments that seem untouchable. Yet, over the years, several of these iconic sites have been listed for sale, proving that even history’s giants can become marketable assets.
Why These Famous Landmarks Went Up for Sale
Economic pressures, shifting ownership, and evolving priorities have all turned heritage sites into real‑estate listings. Some were rescued by preservationists, while others changed hands multiple times before finding a new steward.
10 Carter’s Grove Plantation
Carter’s Grove Plantation sits on a historic parcel near Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, overlooking the James River. For centuries it remained in private hands before being donated to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in the 1960s.
The foundation found the estate costly to maintain, closed it in 2007, and sold it to Halsey Minor, a wealthy Virginia businessman. After Minor declared bankruptcy in 2011, the property was put back on the market.
Chicago investor Samuel M. Mencoff purchased the plantation in 2014 for $7.5 million. The Georgian mansion had suffered water leaks and neglected plaster and brick work during Minor’s ownership. Mencoff, a noted preservationist, said he is proud to assume stewardship and intends to work with Colonial Williamsburg to preserve the site.
9 Hollywood Sign
By the late 1970s the original Hollywood sign, erected in the 1920s to promote a real‑estate development, was falling into disrepair. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce needed roughly $250,000 to replace it.
Magazine publisher Hugh Hefner hosted a lavish party at his Playboy mansion, selling each letter for $27,700. The fundraiser succeeded, the old sign was removed, and nine gleaming white letters were raised in its place.
In 2002 investors bought 138 acres near the sign—land once owned by Howard Hughes. Their development plans threatened the iconic view, prompting a “Save the Peak” campaign to preserve the area.
When the campaign fell $1 million short of the $12.5 million goal, Hefner covered the gap, ensuring the sign’s location remained intact. He later called the sign “our Eiffel Tower” and said it represents more than a city—it represents Hollywood dreams.
8 Empire State Building
On May 29, 2013, shareholders approved a $4.2 billion IPO that took the historic New York City skyscraper public. Two groups had clashed over its fate: one wanted a syndicate of 2,800 owners to retain control, while the other advocated bundling the building with 18 other New York properties into a REIT.
The 443‑meter‑tall (1,454 ft), 102‑story tower was once the world’s tallest skyscraper, holding the title until the World Trade Center surpassed it in 1973.
After the September 2001 attacks destroyed the WTC, the Empire State Building briefly reclaimed the city’s tallest‑building crown, only to lose it again to the new 540‑meter (1,776 ft) Ground Zero tower.
7 Alamo
The Alamo began as Mission San Francisco de Solano, built near the Rio Grande in 1700 and later settled in San Antonio, Texas. By the end of the 18th century the mission was secularized and divided among local residents, Spanish and Native American alike.
It became a military garrison, and during the Texas Revolution (1835‑36) Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna’s army laid siege to the Alamo. The defenders—including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie—fell after a 90‑minute battle.
After the soldiers left in 1877, the grounds and compound were sold to various owners. In 1883 Texas bought the Alamo, except for the convento (Long Barrack), whose owner sold it to make way for a new hotel in 1903.
Schoolteacher and preservationist Adina de Zavala raised $75,000 from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, purchasing the convento. Two years later the Texas legislature reimbursed the DRT for the acquisition.
6 Liberty Bell
The replica of the Liberty Bell hanging in the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia has symbolized American freedom since July 4, 1776, when it rang to announce the reading of the Declaration of Independence. The original bell was recast twice—once in 1753 after cracking in London, and again later for a better tone.
Seventy years after the second recasting, the bell was nearly sold as scrap metal. Officials wanted $400 for it, but the cost to lower the one‑ton behemoth from its four‑story perch in Independence Hall would have been higher, saving it from the junkyard.
“It’s pretty much a miracle that the thing still exists,” said UCLA professor emeritus Gary B. Nash.
5 Monticello
Thomas Jefferson, though never formally trained as an architect, studied numerous books on the subject. In 1768 he took on the design and supervision of a house on inherited land, later expanding it after his 1782 return from France.
Jefferson doubled the original house’s size and added extensive gardens with fruit vines. His lavish spending left his daughter, Martha Randolph, heavily indebted, forcing her to sell the estate.
In 1836 real‑estate speculator Uriah Levy bought Monticello, and his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy later restored and preserved the property.
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, a nonprofit, purchased Monticello in 1923. Today it operates as a museum and educational institution.
4 Bran Castle
In 2007 Romania’s former royal family put Bran Castle up for sale. The fortress, perched on a cliff near Brașov, once defended against Ottoman Turks and is linked to Vlad the Impaler, the historical inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula.
The royals called it home from 1920 to 1948 before the communist regime confiscated it from Princess Ileana. After a late‑1980s restoration, it became known as “Dracula’s Castle” and a major tourist draw.In 2006 the property returned to Princess Ileana’s son, Archduke Dominic Habsburg, then 69. Local authorities rejected his proposal to sell the castle for $80 million, keeping it as a museum.
Habsburg later listed the castle again, predicting offers could reach $135 million, but no buyer has emerged yet.
3 London Bridge
In 1968 industrialist Robert McCulloch wanted to boost tourism in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He bought the historic 19th‑century London Bridge, which England was discarding because it was sinking about 2.5 cm every eight years.
City councilor Ivan Luckin suggested selling the bridge. McCulloch offered twice the $1.2 million dismantling cost, adding $60,000 to sweeten the deal. The bridge was his.
Each stone block was marked, packed, and shipped to Long Beach, California, then trucked to Arizona. There, the bridge was reassembled, its core reinforced with steel‑rebar concrete.
The entire disassembly, transport, and reassembly cost McCulloch an additional $7 million, but the relocated bridge sparked a tourism boom, and Lake Havasu City’s population “blossomed.”
2 New Scotland Yard
London’s famed Metropolitan Police headquarters, New Scotland Yard, was sold in 2014 to an Abu Dhabi investor for £370 million ($580 million)—£120 million above expectations. The buyer plans to convert the historic building into luxury apartments.
As part of the sale, artifacts from the Met’s private “Black Museum” will move to a public museum. Items include the ricin‑filled pellet fired from an umbrella that killed Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov in 1978, and cooking pots used by a serial killer to boil victims.
The Met’s new headquarters will occupy a neoclassical edifice on the River Thames near Parliament.
1 Stonehenge
In September 1915, the British magazine Country Life ran an advertisement offering Stonehenge as a “companion feature” to a 6,400‑acre real‑estate parcel. The Antrobus family of Cheshire had owned the land since 1824, after a series of earlier owners.
When the family’s sole heir died in World War I, the estate was put up for sale. No buyer wanted the entire property, which included a mansion, farmhouse, and gardens, so the land was split into 89 lots for separate auction.
Lot 15 contained the Stonehenge monoliths. Despite its fame, interest was low, and the lot sold for just £6,600 (about $8,700), far below expectations.
The buyer, Cecil Chubb, gave the stones to his wife, who was unimpressed by their chipped state. In October 1918 the couple deeded the site to the United Kingdom, and Chubb received an honorary knighthood. Today English Heritage safeguards Stonehenge for future generations.