One Cemetery’s Wild Ride from $1 Million “Zillow Gone Wild” Listing to $1 Sale to Green Burial Organization

Talk about a real estate bargain! It’s not everyday that a seller accepts a buyer’s offer of one-millionth of the asking price, but that’s exactly what happened recently in Philadelphia when a judge approved the sale of a property — listed just last year for $1 million — for just one single buck.

Back in July 2024, Mount Vernon Cemetery—a neglected 26‑acre burial ground in North Philadelphia—was unexpectedly listed on Zillow for $1 million. The post instantly went viral for its eerie, overgrown appearance… and a not-so-subtle warning: the property had 33,000+ graves, ticks, poison ivy, spooky stuffed animals mysteriously showing up overnight, and even ghost hunters prowling around.

Filled with history

Mount Vernon Cemetery opened on February 28, 1856, as part of the then‑fashionable rural garden‑cemetery movement—intended as a lush, park‑like place to bury loved ones. It sits across Ridge Avenue from “competitor” Laurel Hill Cemetery, on land that once belonged to a Philadelphia merchant‑philanthropist Robert Ralston.

The property is filled with plots occupied by notable American families and Revolutionary War heroes and is dotted with distinctive architectural features. For example, the Cemetery’s original gatehouse and arched entry were designed in 1857–58 by architect John Notman, a big name in 19th‑century American cemetery design. Architectural historian Constance Greiff once called the structure “the setting for an Italian fairy tale.”

Mount Vernon’s features include: 

• Gardel Memorial Pyramid (1864): A towering 25‑ft sandstone and marble pyramid designed by Belgian sculptor Guillaume Geefs, honoring Julia Hawks Gardel. Complete with allegorical statues of continents and figures representing Hope, Faith, and America—it cost about $2 million in today’s dollars.
• Drew & Barrymore Family Plot: Generations of this famed acting dynasty—including Louisa Lane Drew, Maurice Barrymore, and John Barrymore—are interred here. Fans installed an “Alas poor Yorick” marker on John Barrymore’s grave in 1992.
• Re‑interred Historic Figures: In 1867, about 2,500 bodies—many Revolutionary War soldiers—from an Arch Street churchyard were moved here.
• Lots of Other Luminaries: There are beer barons, Medal of Honor winners from the Civil War, professional sports figures, and more.

Falling apart

By the late 20th century, Mount Vernon had fallen into neglect. No new plots were sold after 1968. In 1973, lawyer Joseph Dinsmore Murphy inherited the property—and let it sit derelict for decades. 

By 2021, it was an overgrown, vine-choked ruin—bronze doors looted, mausoleums flooded, bones floating in muck. The Philadelphia Community Development Coalition (PCDC) petitioned for conservatorship under blighted‑property laws, and a judge agreed. Volunteers, dubbed “Friends of Mount Vernon,” began clearing vines, mowing paths, revealing statues—and even hosted a Fall Festival on the property in November 2023.

Cemeteries Gone Wild

In July 2024, the PCDC listed the cemetery on Zillow for $1 million, a court‑ordered move. Only a few bidders showed interest—not surprising, given legal and preservation constraints. The listing even went viral, appearing on the popular “Zillow Gone Wild,” an Instagram account that showcases outrageous, unusual, and odd properties featured on the Zillow real estate platform.

The sudden attention led to public panic and fears that the site would be plowed down and become commercial property. Experts noted the site wasn’t suitable for development due to undocumented graves and a few purchased, but not yet occupied, plots.

“People were panicking … they got afraid they will move the bodies and it will become a Walmart. That will not happen,” volunteer Bradley Zimmerman said. “There are 33,000 people here and we don’t have accurate maps and records. You would have to do ground-penetrating radar over 26 acres to find everybody. There are infinitely cheaper and easier places. If you’re looking for the site of your next distribution center, Mount Vernon ain’t it.”

A green revival

Fast-forward to April 2025: a judge approved sale to New Jersey’s Steelmantown Cemetery Co., a green burial group, for just $1. Owner Ed Bixby plans to invest $400,000+ in repairs to the gatehouse and grounds and to create nature trails and walkable pathways over 18 months. The goal: create a welcoming green space and offer eco-friendly green burials.

The new owners and volunteers envision a “sustained ruin”: not a manicured lawn, but a respectful, walkable landscape with native plantings, paths, historical markers, art installations, and events.

They’ve already planned historic and art architecture tours, like the Gardel Monument spotlight tour held in Dec 2024, and community-friendly events: beer walks, film screenings (think Barrymore classics), and genealogy meet‑ups.

Steelmantown’s Bixby says it’s all about respecting the living who visit as well as the legacy of those buried there: “Cemeteries are designed for the living.”

Perpetual Plots & Cemeteries Gone Wild | 4M #163

Welcome to the hundred-and-sixty-third edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #163, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!

We bought a cemetery

Hey, if a movie about a family buying a zoo can be a hit, why can’t a story about a couple buying (and living in) a cemetery work, too? Salon recently published a memoir-like story written by a woman who moves into a renovated church in the middle of a cemetery, after watching the price of the house continue to drop for more than a year on the cult-followed Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild. 

In perpetuity … or not 

A plot owner in Montreal is suing the cemetery where he hopes to be laid to rest after his “in perpetuity” contract was changed to a 99-year lease without his knowledge. Although a 1994 provincial law allowed cemeteries to offer 99-year agreements, it did not give the cemeteries the mandate to change existing contracts, the man is arguing. The cemetery does give plot owners (well, their families) the option of renewing the agreement at year 99 …

That’s why it’s called a deadline

No one knows if it was intentional, but when one Massachusetts news outlet discovered that the annual deadline for the state’s deathcare professionals to renew their respective licenses was always October 31, they thought it was a strange — and apparently newsworthy — coincidence.

Speaking of license renewal …

DouglasNow, a publication based in the city where 18 decomposing bodies were found during a funeral home eviction late last month, has reported that the operation passed an inspection in July — despite the fact that its establishment license had lapsed. Johnson Funeral & Cremation Services owner Chris Johnson, who remains in jail after being arrested on 17 felony counts of abuse of a dead body, had also let his own director and embalmer licenses, due for renewal on June 30, 2024, lapse until September. So, in effect, the funeral home passed the July 19 inspection by the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service despite having three invalid licenses.

Prime real estate

Families picnicking or playing pickleball in one New York City park probably don’t realize that under their feet lie the remains of around 10,000 souls. A large stone monument at the entrance to James J. Walker Park in Greenwich Village explains that the land, now lush and green and full of life, was from 1834 to 1898 known as St. John’s Burial Ground, a cemetery for Trinity Parish church. The fascinating story of this transition is beautifully covered in the Smithsonian magazine, and it is definitely worth a read.