First, Dean Williams and Michael Turner find a surprise in the basement of their 1904 Queen Anne Victorian in Brighton, Ala., that leads to a story of an artist whose life was even more colorful than her art. Then, while restoring their 1878 Victorian mansion in West Union, Ioqa, Marie and Le Monroe discover that their house was built with a no-expense-spared policy—just to top the neighbors. Next, by the time Judy Cook bought this 158-year-old house in Heath Springs, S.C., it had been vacant for 10 years. Animals were living in the house, and graffiti from the 1800s was spread all over the walls. Finally, as Tim Hagaman gets to work on his 9,000-square-foot mansion in Springer, N.M., he discovers that it has a dark and infamous past.