If the housing market has been ailing, spare a thought for vendors of mausoleums. The Leeds mausoleum, a 200 sq ft marble and bronze monument in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City, is still for sale after being on the market since 2003, despite the asking price recently having dropped by 30 per cent, from $5m to $3.5m.

This grand “last house” of wealthy tin magnate William Bateman Leeds was designed by the architect of the Jefferson Memorial, John Russell Pope, and features a bas-relief by an artist who worked on the Supreme Court. In other words, as well as the qualities listed in a feature in the New York Times (“sleeps nine, quiet neighbours, picturesque views”), the structure has heritage. Yet still no buyer can be found. As Sue Olsen, director of historical services at the cemetery, commented: “There’s a definite ‘ew’ factor involved. People freak out a little when they find that someone else has already been there.”

Surprisingly, despite its macabre nature, buying a final resting place second hand is not unusual. About 10 per cent of the 1,300 tombs in Woodlawn Cemetery have been sold on over the years, putting to good use long-abandoned monuments or raising money for their former owners. “When times are hard, families sometimes want to sell on their mausoleum,” says Olsen. “It’s a good way of using old monuments.”