23 March 2023 , 14:09
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An urban explorer has captured the eerie site of a former swingers palace complete with luxury remnants of its wild past.
Leland Kent, known online as Abandoned Southeast, captured the images of the mansion in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA that was once the home of strip club owner Billy Hull.
The 5,600 square-foot home featured three bedrooms, four baths, an indoor pool and even a helipad, but its grandeur conceals a darker past.
The palace was once the centre of a party lifestyle and up to 10,000 people attended it in 1972.
Billy and his wife Gloria were swingers and invited a number of people into their marriage, but he was alleged to have hired a hitman to kill one of Gloria's 'boyfriends.'
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Billy ended up in jail on a charge for murder-for-hire, but was acquitted four years later (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)He ended up in jail for four years before he was acquitted.
On his blog, Lelan wrote: "Billy married Gloria Hull in 1951 while they were juniors in high school. The Hulls welcomed their first child in 1958.
"Soon after, Gloria returned to work at Riviera Carpet Mill, where she continued to work until 1962 and the birth of their second child. Thereafter, she went to work at Concrete Forms.
Handwritten letters were found in the club (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)“In 1967, Billy Hull opened a two-room go-go club known as The Castaways Club and the Lion’s Den as a side business while still working at the foundry.
“After six months or so of working multiple jobs, Hull quit the foundry and began devoting his full time to his new business venture."
It was then Gloria began to work with Billy in the evenings and became the full time cashier after quitting her job. She was also responsible for running the club's books and filling the cigarette machines.
Billy and Gloria married in 1951 (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)Leland wrote: "At approximately 12:55 A.M. on May 1, 1973, Larry Parker, shot and killed Roland Hargis, a boyfriend of Gloria Hull, as he was leaving the Tradewinds Night Club in Chattanooga."
The explorer explained that Billy was a friend of Larry and the club owner was accused of murder-for-hire.
He was sentenced to 20 years and one day behind bars in the Tennessee State Penitentiary but was acquitted four years later.
It is not known if Billy and Gloria stayed married (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)His palace, however, was left to rot after a few families lived there but chose not to stay for long.
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Reports indicate the place is now marked for demolition after vandals became attracted to the site. One person even wrote 'Trump 2016' in red spray paint.
The Playboy pool is now covered in debris and graffiti, as has much of the rest of the property.
The abandoned home was marked for demolition, reports say (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)Billy's other legal troubles included when his grandmother Katie Holcomb ran a bootleg whiskey operation. He was convicted of tax fraud in relation to her estate in 1969.
It is not known if Billy and Gloria remained together, but Gloria was still alive according to reports from 2017. Billy died from a "massive" heart attack in 1989.
In his blog, Leland added: “In the summer of 1976, a former Chattanooga police officer made allegations of corruption in the police department and city attorney’s office.
"One of those claims was that the assistant district attorney picked up alleged sex workers at Castaways and brought them to Billy Hull’s house.
Billy died in 1989 (mediadrumimages/Leland Kent)“The officer making the allegations had worked at some point at Castaways Club. During Hull’s murder trial, allegedly the same cop had set up the victim, so Hull could get his mug shot to give to the hitman.
“A six-month investigation into the corruption allegations concluded in March 1977, and no merit was found in the claims.
A year later, Billy was acquitted on an arson charge, though life after prison was hard and he fell into bankruptcy.