March 13, 2007: Natchez, Mississippi.

The richest families in antebellum Mississippi built their homes in Natchez. The most poignant example of the dramatic rise and fall of the southern aristocracy is that of the Nutt family. Aiming to outdo all of his neighbors with a 5 story oriental villa, Haller Nutt started construction of Longwood in 1860, but the war and the resulting blockades prevented its completion. The basement had been finished so the family moved in. During the war, the federales destroyed Haller's plantations, freed his slaves, and seized his assets. Haller died in 1864 and his family was left with nothing but the unfinished mansion.

Four generations of poor Nutts lived in the basement of Longwood until the 1970s, all the while with four floors above boarded up and hollow. It was vacant for a while after that with neighborhood kids making forts inside (how cool is that!), but now its a museum.