Nelly bought a Missouri Mansion for $1.925 million in 2002; 19 years later, the abandoned 11,000-square-foot property hit the market for just $599,000

Rapper Nelly purchased a Missouri mansion for $1.925 million in 2002, when his music career was just beginning to take off. The Wildwood parcel included an 11,000-square-foot home on 12-acres. The star intended to renovate the place and give it as a wedding present to his sister, Jackie. The project never came to fruition, as Nelly walked away from the property. Over the years, the mansion languished in disrepair. In February 2021, the fixer-upper was put up for sale at $599,000. After getting some offers, the rapper closed the deal on undisclosed terms and sold the property.

Why did the Wildwood property turn into such a big deal?

Nelly’s Missouri mansion was located in Wildwood, which is a suburban community 30 miles west of St. Louis. The area is known as being fairly upscale — in part due to its proximity to Hidden Valley Ski Resort in Eureka.


Nelly purchased the home in 1998, and it was built on a 12-acre parcel. The house itself contained around 11,000 square feet of living space, six bedrooms and 6.5 bathrooms. The mansion was built in the Tuscan style. It features high ceilings, grand rooms and views of the Meramec River valley.

Other amenities included a motor court, three-car garage, basketball court, swimming pool, hot tub, multiple balconies, large glass walls, fireplaces, two-story entry, great rooms, separate dining room, media room, game room and library. The property listing noted that this was an investment opportunity, as well as an opportunity to enjoy the Meramec River valley.

Nelly’s Wildwood mansion purchase

Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., purchased the mansion for $1,925,000. The outlay occurred during the height of his Nellyville period. Notably, the rapper didn’t buy the house as a fully renovated family home. He intended to renovate and gift the house to his sister Jackie. But Jackie passed away from leukemia in 2005. Nelly’s plans never came to pass as he couldn’t finish the work. The house stood empty and eventually fell into disrepair.

Nelly and the mansion’s unfinished interior

Nelly’s remodeling plans were apparently never completed — at least not to the point of providing a completely renovated house. In fact, the mansion’s interior appeared to be in fairly poor shape when it was put up for sale in 2021.

Looking at the sale, one would think the interior would still need a fair amount of work to finish it out. The unfinished parts included flooring. Other sections of the house required renovation. The kitchen would need to be upgraded, perhaps even expanded. The bathrooms were in line for a complete overhaul. Flooring needed to be finished in the remaining sections of the house. Meanwhile, the swimming pool would also require work. All of the above items were a part of the house’s “unfinished” condition at the time of sale. To compound the matter, the backyard needed to undergo some landscaping and demolition as there was an uncompleted wall. As such, the next homeowner would have to invest significantly in the property to complete it.

The mansion’s renovation was abandoned around the time Nelly bought it. Then, over the next two decades, the property was abandoned. The house became something of an eyesore around the community. In 2009, video games and electronics were stolen from the mansion. Nelly wasn’t present at that time at the property. In addition, trespassers caused damage to the property.

Why was the house listed for $599,000?

The Wildwood mansion was put up for sale in February 2021 for $599,000. The listing said that the property was a fixer-upper and a short sale. A short sale typically involves selling the property for less than the amount owed to the bank, with the bank’s blessing.

While the final sale price wasn’t stated, this implies that the $599,000 asking price was well below the amount owed to the bank. Furthermore, there were supposedly dozens of offers for the property. That’s a strong sign that potential buyers were attracted to the property despite its condition. This was due to the scale of the mansion as well as its location.