Man who has spent four years living in abandoned California GHOST TOWN he bought for $1.4 million attempts to turn desolate mining post into a tourist hotspot by building a luxury HOTEL in the center of the empty community

Brent Underwood and his friend purchased the abandoned mining town in 2018He is currently rebuilding a hotel in the town, which was located outside of LA  The YouTube creator spent the last four years working towards making it livable

If you build it they will come – at least one man is hoping that’s the case, after buying an abandoned town and building a hotel to attract visitors.

YouTube creator Brent Underwood and his investor friend, Jon Bier, owner of boutique public relations agency Jack Taylor PR, bought Cerro Gordo from family owners in July 2018 with plans to turn it into a tourist attraction.

The 300-acre property, which contains 22 buildings, is located about 220 miles north of Los Angeles.

The treacherous journey to the historic town is made on a single-lane gravel road that ranges from ‘2,000 feet above sea level to 8,500 feet above sea level.’

YouTuber Brent Underwood purchased the abandoned Cerro Gordo mine in California in July 2020

Brent and Jon are currently undertaking the ‘project above all projects,’ which is rebuilding a hotel in the town

‘Since the Coronavirus outbreak, I’ve moved from Austin, Texas up to the town and I’m living alone in this abandoned ghost town trying to make it into a place for more people to enjoy,’ Brent shared in a clip to his channel.

According to the creator, the town was originally established in 1865, and the silver from Cerro Gordo was responsible for helping to build up LA.

Brent has previously said he was drawn to Cerro Gordo’s long and bloody history. At its peak in the 19th century, the community of 5,000 people was a haven for violent crime because the nearest law enforcement agencies couldn’t be bothered to police it given the remote location.

‘The prosperity of Cerro Gordo demanded a larger port city and pushed LA to develop quickly,’ he wrote in the description for a YouTube video.

Brent and Jon are currently undertaking the ‘project above all projects,’ which is rebuilding a hotel in the town.

The American Hotel tragically burned down in 2020, which Brent described as a ‘gut punch,’ and has vowed to rebuild it.

‘There’s going to be six rooms in this top floor, all of the rooms will have just postcard views,’ he explained, showing off the panoramic views of the town.

Currently, the hotel still has a way to go, with no roof and supply transportation issues making it difficult.

The 300-acre property, which contains 22 buildings, is located about 220 miles north of LA

‘There’s going to be six rooms in this top floor, all of the rooms will have just postcard views,’ Brent explained, showing off the panoramic views of the town from the soon-to-be-built hotel

The American Hotel tragically burned down in 2020, which Brent described as a ‘gut punch,’ and has vowed to rebuild it

Another big challenge Brent, who spends his days hiking and mining in the abandoned mines, faces is getting water into the buildings

The treacherous journey to the historic town is made on a single-lane gravel road that ranges from ‘2,000 feet above sea level to 8,500 feet above sea level’

Brent has previously said he was drawn to Cerro Gordo’s long and bloody history. At its peak in the 19th century, the community of 5,000 people

‘The hotel is an exercise and patience,’ he explained. ‘There’s only so much I can do a lot of this work needs to be done by licensed contractors and so it’s a waiting game at the moment.’

Another big challenge Brent, who spends his days hiking and mining in the abandoned mines, faces is getting water into the buildings.

‘Living with no running water is no joke but it’s also led me on some of my biggest adventures up here,’ he shared in the clip.

Brent said he got a hydrogeologist come up to the town, who advised him on where he thought the best area would be to drill for water.

To balance out the scientific approach, he also sought the advice of a water dowser – or ‘water witch’ – who use rods or pendulums to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations, gravesites and malign ‘earth vibrations.’

Brent reached out to a popular water dowser to ask if he could come out to the mine site.

‘I read about Rob originally in a New York Times article that was about these huge multi-million dollar vineyards in Napa that were using Rob to find their well locations during a drought,’ Brent explained.

‘Oil companies swear by him, vineyards swear by him.’

Rob does a lot of his dowsings remotely, printing out a map of the area and uses different pendulums to find the location of the water.

For Brent, he located two main areas to drill a well to supply water to the town.

‘[Number one] is in a very easy to drill location, it’s very convenient, it’s a lot closer to town than the one that the hydrogeologist came up with,’ Brent explained.

‘And the second location that Rob found was directly behind the museum over there so if you want the best it’s over there quality if you want the most gallons it’s right here.’

The hotel has beautiful panoramic views of the stunning landscape that surrounds the property

Brent reached out to a popular water dowser, Rob (pictured) to ask if he could come out to the mine site

Brent spends some time exploring the abandoned mines the 22-building town is built around

Brent continues explaining getting running water to the town is one of his main priorities, especially with the hotel being built.

‘I think 2024 is going to be a big year for water at Cerro Gordo,’ he said confidently.

Brent has previously spoken about his experiences in the ghost town, admitting he didn’t believe in ghosts before he started living in Cerro Gordo, but had his first supernatural experience on the property.

He detailed a story of when he had some friends visiting, so went to stay in the bunkhouse on the property, but noticed there was a light on in the kitchen.

‘I walked down here to the bunkhouse and I looked in that first window right there and the curtain all been been closed and a curtain open and closed and a little face looked out and the light was on in the kitchen,’ he recalled.

‘I went down to Robert our caretaker and I said Robert how long are the contractors staying in the bunkhouse and he kind of turned and looked at me he said the contractors left two weeks ago. So that was a bit spooky.’