It was just seven years ago when the opulent building served as Wayne Manor for Batman's 2012 release The Dark Knight Rises. It stands empty today. There are only vermin and amateur ghost hunters moving through the decaying hallways with crumbling and graffitied walls.
As a result, the Rainbow House has turned into a dark haven for ghosts. Where did it all go wrong?
Matt Topham and Cassey Carrington were an ordinary couple from Staplewood, England. Although the couple was deeply and madly in love, nothing exciting ever really happened in their lives.
So when these two high school sweethearts entered the Euro Lottery, they never imagined what twisted path they were walking down.
At just 23 years old, the young couple was only just finding their feet in life. Matt worked as a painter and decorator, and Cassey worked as a supervisor at her local supermarket. The two were more than content with their lives in their one-bedroom apartment.
Cassey and Matt didn’t buy lottery tickets every week, but when they saw that the jackpot was sitting at $60 million, they decided to try their luck. And, unbelievably, they won!
In the beginning, Matt and Cassey were surprisingly modest and generous with their winnings. Their first priority was a simple wedding for themselves, then new cars. They moved out of their apartment and bought an average-sized home in the same neighborhood they were living in.
The young couple thought that all their problems had been solved. But they had no idea that this was the start of something truly unimaginable.
The Tophams went on a few holidays and lavished their friends with gifts. Most notably, they gave $1.7 million to one of their close friends to help him, and his parents get out of debt.
At the time, a source told The Sun, “It’s a fantastic gesture and proves [that they] don’t intend to leave their friends behind.” Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before the couple decided to upgrade and made a huge mistake.
The historic Rainbow House is situated on the grounds of Wollaton Hall in Nottingham. Known For its role in the 2012 Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, the house is accessed by Adams Hill, known locally as 'Millionaires' Row', which runs parallel to the A52 Derby Road. The mansion was everything Matt was looking for.
For many people, this seven-bedroom mansion would be a dream come true. But for Matt and Cassey, it was only the start of a horrific nightmare.
Built in the 1930s, the Rainbow House mansion was an art deco heritage home. The young couple bought it for a cool $1.6 million.
“I have often painted these huge houses and wondered what it would be like to live in one,” Matt innocently explained to the Daily Mail. “Now I can find out.” But seven years later, the property has become notorious in the local area.
Although the mansion was all theirs, Matt and Cassey didn’t move in straight away. You see, they had big plans for the exquisite house. The total cost for this project would be just over $6 million.
But with still around $60 million in the bank, the Tophams barely batted an eyelid. The couple planned to demolish the existing house and build an 8-bedroom home on the land from scratch. But when the plans were approved, they had all the locals raising their eyebrows.
Dubbed a “Teletubby-style” home by the media, the new design would largely be underground. Their eco-friendly vision included solar panels, as well as a swimming pool and a cinema. They had goals of adding a second house to the property and building a 10-car garage.
And ironically, they named the home “Serenity”. However, none of their vision would come to pass.
Even though Matt and Cassey’s plans for the mansion were big and bold, they were confident they would be able to accomplish them. After all, with millions of dollars in the bank, what could go wrong?
Matt and Cassey soon got to work on their grand project, but their renovations soon came to an abrupt halt.
Matt and Cassey had it made. Not only did they purchase the mansion, but they also bought another home -- specifically for their closest friends and family. With so much money in their bank, it was strange that something caused them to completely abandon the project.
Instead of an innovative new building appearing in its place, the Rainbow House stands empty and largely unchanged. What happened?
Just seven years ago, the famous mansion had the potential to become a dream home. Now, the crumbling and graffitied building stands empty -- the stuff of nightmares and a blight on the neighborhood. The sprawling estate is overgrown with whispering grass.
The mansion stares vacantly from the hill with its windowless eyes. The house has become a hotspot for teenage rebels looking for a thrill, and the hellish mansion doesn’t disappoint.
Local residents claim that vandals regularly break into the property to smash things, set fires, and commit other crimes -- despite it being boarded up with tall security fences that surround the entire property.
It wasn’t long before the derelict house became known as the 'scariest place in Nottingham to have your photo taken' -- which, of course, only attracted more ghost hunters.
Neighbors are constantly complaining about the property. From the untidy and unkempt garden that “looks like a forest” to the offensive graffiti that covered the mansion's exterior.
One told the Daily Mail, “The Tophams have shedloads of money and should be spending some to end this farce – or at least on security.”
“We have been told by the council that all the toilets have been smashed, leaving the drains open. That, in turn, attracted rats,” another neighbor explained in an interview.
“There is also an empty swimming pool, which is a real danger too. I'm surprised no one has been seriously hurt in there.” So, where were Matt and Cassey while all this was happening?
Just went Cassey and Matt thought life couldn’t get any better, Cassey found out she was pregnant! The two soon-to-be parents finally felt like their family was complete.
While Cassey and Matt were having the times of their lives with their new fortune, the couple had completely neglected their dream mansion. They had no idea what state it was in.
When Cassey and Matt went back to the mansion to see what all the uproar was about, they were disgusted to see it in such a state. Toilets were smashed up, trash was scattered everywhere, and rats and other creatures were running wild. Occult symbols were spray painted on the walls, and the entire house was a death trap and a serious health and safety hazard.
Neighbors were livid that Cassey and Matt had let it get this bad. But things were about to get even worse.
Bearing all this in mind, it’s perhaps surprising that the house hasn’t been demolished already. But even though planning approval had been granted, the plans were put on hold because the “Teletubby” house became too expensive to build.
As a result, no action was taken, and Rainbow House was allowed to fall into disrepair.
The local council is well aware of the problem, though.
Indeed, the U.K.’s ITV quoted a recent council report as stating, “The house has been the victim of anti-social behavior, vandalism, countless arson, and nuisance fire attempts, and is now in a state where every opening has been blocked up… and secured by steel sheets.” And the ghosts that haunt the building?
Given the state that the property is in, the council is likely to consider a new application, so the Tophams have filed again to demolish the house. That said, despite the couple apparently having plans to build a different house on the land, so far there has been no indication of what it might look like.
And the only “ghosts” on the property are the ghosts of wasted opportunity.
With the state of their property in the public eye, the Tophams decided to make to release of a statement. This comes as there had been much scrutiny from neighbors and the media in the past few months.
There was something they needed to say as it had been bothering them for a long time. What the Tophams would reveal would have everyone’s attention.
Matt and Cassey had decided to do a sit-down interview to reveal how their life had changed and what they had been going through for the past few months. They wanted to especially address the ongoing media storm involving a certain mansion they had purchased.
It was something heavy they needed to get off their chests.
As the cameras were rolling, Matt and Cassey took a deep breath and looked straight ahead. It was time to let the world know the truth. The truth was that they were living in fear.
It all started when they had purchased the mansion. Their lives changed dramatically, and they didn’t know what to do. The only way was to abandon the house and run.
Matt says that buying the mansion was a dream come true. It was iconic and historical because in the area and when he heard that one of the Batman movies was filmed there, he had to have it.
When they saw it, they thought it was nice but not really their style, and that’s when they came up with the idea of just building a whole new house from scratch. But it would be more work than they thought it would be.
Once they roped in a contractor to have a look at everything, the real work could begin. They gave him their plans and what they would like the house to look like.
When they were walking around the house with the contractor discussing what they wanted him to do, Matt noticed something as they passed one of the rooms.
He must've imagined it he thought. They continued to walk through the house and then went outside to show the contractor the pool they wanted. After the meeting, Matt and Cassey decided to do something unconventional.
They thought it would be cool to spend the night in the mansion before it was demolished. It would be a night they would never forget.
They fetched an inflated mattress, a radio, and some food. They set up camp in one of the empty bedrooms and switched on the radio. They brought Chinese food to enjoy.
It would be a cool experience to be staying in this iconic house that was to be broken apart. As they settled down to listen to the radio, Matt was sure he heard something coming from downstairs.
He turned to Cassey and asked her if she had heard anything. When she said no, Matt thought that it must've been the radio. They settled in to go to sleep, and that's when Matt heard it again.
This time it was clear. The radio was off and he did not imagine it. He had to go downstairs to see what was going on.
Matt woke Cassey and told her what he had heard. He told her they needed to go see what was happening downstairs.
Cassey reluctantly got up, and they trudged downstairs. They switched on the lights and walked all through the house but saw nothing out of the ordinary until they got to the office study area.
As soon they opened the door to the home office, the air was freezing. There was a mist that had risen in the room.
Cassey then saw that the window was open, and that was the possible cause of the cold mist that had seeped in. But then they heard a knock coming from the room next door.
They froze. What was that knock they heard? They quickly went into the next room and opened the door. This room was very cold as well. A mist had settled in the center.
However, Cassey didn’t see an open window this time. Everything was closed. What was going on? And then they heard it again.
There was another knock in the home office. This was getting creepy, Matt thought. He and Cassey exchanged worried glances. Was this what they thought it was?
It couldn’t be, right? This was a fairly new house, and the realtor didn’t mention anything wrong with the house. Unless that was the very reason it was up for sale.
Was this house haunted? They both heard the knocks, and Matt could've sworn that he saw something out of the corner of his eye earlier when they were with the contractor.
He wasn’t entirely sure, but now that there were these strange happenings with the knocks, it mustn't have been what he thought he saw.
Matt and Cassey thought for a moment. Surely once they demolished the house, it would take away whatever was haunting it, right? But these things tend to hover in an area, not a structure, Matt thought.
They were at a loss for words. They had spent so much money already. They then decided on the only logical thing to do.
They thought it was best to just leave the house as it was for now. They still had money. They could get another place until they figured out what to do with this one. They packed up their belongings and left.
Never to return. The Rainbow House still stands abandoned to this day, with no plans to demolish or refurbish it. In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.