A US man who bought a deserted ghost town for $1.94m ($US1.4m) has revealed what life is really like living alone in the mountains, including terrifying encounters with a local ghost.

Brent Underwood, 39, bought Cerro Gordo, an abandoned 1865 silver mining settlement above California’s Death Valley, in 2018 after a friend texted him the listing as a joke.

He initially planned to visit occasionally, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, he relocated to the 360-acre property permanently.

Six years later, he is still there.

“I left a comfortable life with a decent apartment, great friend group and supportive family to move to the middle of nowhere and try to figure it out,” Mr Underwood told People.

The high-altitude town sits two hours from the nearest grocery store, with no running water or mobile service.

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Brent Underwood went viral for buying an abandoned California mining town. Picture: Tiktok/@brentwunderwood

He initially planned to visit occasionally, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, he relocated to the 360-acre property permanently. Picture: Instagram/@brentwunderwood

Spanish for “fat mountain,” Cerro Gordo was founded in 1865, when silver, lead, and zinc were discovered in the high climes of the Inyo Range, the New York Post reports.

At its peak, over 4,000 miners lived and worked in Cerro Gordo, their toil helping to make it California’s most prosperous silver mine.

By the 1940s, the town was completely deserted.

Mr Underwood’s daily routine now involves caring for goats, alpacas and chickens while restoring the collection of ageing buildings across the town.

His restoration work has attracted millions of followers online.

Inside a former dynamite storehouse, Mr Underwood built a hidden library filled with historic mining books.

The former dynamite storehouse that has been reimagined as a hidden library. Picture: Tiktok/@brentwunderwood

Originally built in 1871, the American Hotel will soon house a bar, restaurant, outdoor patio, and eight guest rooms with soul-stirring valley views. Picture: Tiktok/@brentwunderwood

Next door sits Lola’s Palace of Pleasure, a former 1800s brothel run by local businesswoman Lola Travis, which Underwood is converting into a museum.

“Lola had a remarkable story; she ran a successful business in a mining camp full of drunk and armed men and made it work,” Mr Underwood told the NY Post.

“The women are the part of the history of these camps that gets lost; I want to make sure it survives.”

He is also rebuilding the town’s original 1871 American Hotel, destroyed by fire in 2020, to feature eight guest rooms, a bar and a restaurant.

He also plans to restore an abandoned movie theatre and reopen campsites across the property.

Underwood’s home sits in the former residence of Cerro Gordo’s original owner, Mortimer Belshaw.

“I can keep an eye on everything, plus I get this great view down into the valley,” he said.

Despite snowstorms, frozen water lines and trips taking hours for basic supplies, Mr Underwood said he had no plans to leave.

“I hope to be working on Cerro Gordo for the rest of my life,” he said.

“It’s one thing to read about history; it’s different to stand in it.”

Underwood plans to bring movies back to Cerro Gordo, screening them in the long-abandoned theatre. Picture: Tiktok/@brentwunderwood

Underwood assures that Lola’s brothel will one day be a museum that preserves the grit of the women who worked there. Picture Tiktok/@brentwunderwood

However, living alone in an isolated ghost town comes with chilling drawbacks.

Mr Underwood recalled returning to town after a few days away when he noticed a light on inside the former bunkhouse.

“As I got closer, someone pulled back the lace curtain and looked out at me. I could see a figure,” he said.

The next morning, he checked with a friend who had been staying nearby.

“His eyes went sideways, and he said, ‘Nobody.’”

Spooked, Mr Underwood searched every room, turned off the light, and padlocked the building shut.

“That night I walked up for the sunset, and the kitchen light was on again,” he said.

“There are thirty miles of mine tunnels under this town, and I’ll go into any of them, but I don’t like going in the bunkhouse.”

Parts of this story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission

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