Man who's spent the last four years living in abandoned California ghost town gives update on his situation
Published on Dec 06, 2025 at 6:47 PM (UTC+4)
by Grace Donohoe
Last updated on Dec 05, 2025 at 5:20 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
This man is living every adventure-lover’s dream after he purchased an old abandoned California ghost town.
Brent Underwood first purchased the town of Cerro Gordo in March of 2020 and has quickly had to adapt to life in the barren community.
By using clever technology along the way, he has managed to make a life for himself and even attract some special visitors, too.
Five years after taking on the challenge, here’s what Brent has been up to.
VISIT SBX CARS – View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie
Updates from the abandoned California ghost town
In the Golden State of California, a secret ghost town was awaiting a new owner, so creator Brent came to the rescue to give it a new lease of life.
The town called Cerro Gordo has been inhabited by the creator ever since, with some impressive modifications having been made using high-tech equipment.
The creator has been documenting his journey in detail over on his YouTube channel, but he also took to Instagram to give a breakdown of the events that have occurred over the last few years of living in the abandoned California ghost town.
In 2020, he started using a rope to explore the area, before some disasters like a huge fire happened, creating setbacks in the journey.
Next, in the new year of 2021, he learned how to ‘refine the ore in the mine’ using high-tech equipment, resulting in learning how to make rings from it.
He also hosted a metal detecting event, which was a great success, where he managed to discover ‘really cool’ old coins and artifacts.
When 2022 came, things got even more interesting, with the footers to the hotel that he’d been planning being finished, the creator even managed to build a library down in the mine.
“I did some search and rescue training, our road got washed out in a flood,” he explained before sharing that he managed to rebuild it.
In 2023, framing began on the hotel, and he even found some valuable minerals down in the mine, before 2024 brought more improvements and even a book.
Cerro Gordo had some important visitors
As you can imagine, news spreads when someone buys an abandoned ghost town, especially in California.
Celebrities, including Cole Sprouse and Sam and Colby, came to visit the town, experiencing the magic for themselves.
After social media caught sight of his adventure, too, they couldn’t help but comment.
“So proud of you this is living,” said one user.
“Sold. What a cool adventure! Hats off for you brother,” commented another.
“Congratulations! So cool you are doing this. Thanks for sharing your experience,” added a third.
In June, he revealed that after the devastating fire, his hotel was standing proud once more.
One of the biggest tech and engineering achievements, though, stands to be the water pump that was installed in order to bring water up from the mine shaft.
You have to admit, it’s been one huge journey, and it’s far from over yet.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
