Briarcliff mansion in Atlanta, Georgia, was once the home of Coca-Cola heir Asa 'Buddy' Griggs Candler Jr who turned the fizzy drinks brand into a worldwide phenomenon following his father's death.
The millionaire was the son of Coca-Cola co-founder Asa Griggs Candler Sr. - who bought the business from inventor John Pemberton for $2,300 (£1,850) in 1891.
Under the heir's stewardship, business began to boom and Candler Jr. decided to sell Coca-Cola again in 1919 - netting the family further millions as he turned to real estate.
Much of the cash that was made from the sale went into building the fabulous Briarcliff mansion, which had two swimming pools, a golf course, a ballroom, and a solarium.
Candler Jr. showcased many of legendary magician Houdini's props on the walls of his mansion, as he claimed they were close friends.
The massive home, which was completed in 1922, also bared huge gardens in which elephants, lions, and a gorilla were kept.
According to Love Property, the gorilla who lived in the private zoo once escaped and bit a house guest who then sued Candler $10,000 (£8,150) in damages.
Over the years, the private zoo caused noise complaints and Candler Jr. was forced to donate his animals to a local zoo.
However, Briarcliff became the centre of a scandal in the 1930s, dampening the grandeur of the property.
The mansion was thrown into the spotlight in 1931 after Candler Jr's butler and personal magic assistant, José Cruz, shot his girlfriend and took his own life on Briarcliff grounds.
While Candler Jr was not directly involved in the incident, he struggled to shake off the negative attention from local people and the press.
In the late 1930s, the Coca-Cola heir's fortune began to decline due to poor investments and expensive hobbies.
The former businessman was then declared bankrupt and forced to sell Briarcliff to the General Services Administration (GSA) in 1948.
Candler Jr. battled with alcoholism for most of his life and he passed away from liver cancer in 1953.
After Briarcliff was sold to the GSA, it was transformed into 141-bed psychiatric hospital from 1965 to 1997.
Images reveal that the home became a creepy house of horrors, with a chilling message written in graffiti on an indoor fountain in the former solarium reading: “It ran with blood."
The property is now said to be haunted by former hospital patients.
Charlie Paine, head of the preservation effort behind the mansion, told The Southerner that he saw an elderly woman - who said she was a former nurse - wandering round the eerie property many years ago.
He said: “I remember looking at her hands as she was talking and seeing blood where she had scratched and picked at her skin. Whatever happened had obviously taken some toll on her."
The home now sits on the Briarcliff Campus of Emory University, which purchased the property in 1998.
The university had plans to turn the grounds into a 54-room boutique hotel, however, it is still in a state of disrepair.
