Brent Underwood

Brent William Underwood
Born (1987-04-06) April 6, 1987
Alma materFlorida State University
Columbia University
OccupationsMarketer, Entrepreneur

Brent William Underwood is an American entrepreneur and owner of the Cerro Gordo Mines, located in Inyo County, California.[1][2]

Career

After graduating from Columbia University, Underwood worked briefly for an investment bank in New York City.[3][4] After one month, he quit and backpacked across Central and South America.[5] Upon returning to New York, he ran a hostel in Brooklyn.[6][7] In December 2014 Underwood co-founded HK Austin, a hostel in Austin, Texas, with investors including Matthew Kepnes, after staying in 150 hostels across 30 countries.[8][9] According to Underwood, for 2015, HK Austin was the highest rated hostel in the United States.[5][10] Underwood later became a partner in the marketing firm Brass Check.[3][11]

In February 2016, Underwood published a photo of his foot on Amazon as a book titled Putting My Foot Down.[12][13][14][15][16] The resulting article in the New York Observer received attention from a variety of media outlets and from authors including Neil Gaiman and Nick Bilton.[17][18][19] Underwood was then offered a publishing contract from Thought Catalog to turn Putting My Foot Down into an expanded paperback version.[15][13][20]

Cerro Gordo

In July 2018, Underwood purchased the former mining town of Cerro Gordo alongside the Cerro Gordo Mines for $1.4 million.[21][22] The purchase included over 360 acres and 22 structures.[23] Underwood stated plans to develop the town into an artist destination for tourists and group events, while maintaining the historic nature of the property.[24][25]

Since March 2020, Underwood has been living at Cerro Gordo full-time[26] and has regular visitors.[27] Visitors have included Jeff Goldblum, Cole Sprouse, and G-Eazy.[28] He was isolated there for ten weeks in 2020, unable to leave due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a heavy snowstorm.[29]

The town's hotel burned down on June 20, 2020, in a fire of undetermined origin but possibly electrical wiring failure, during a heat wave. Underwood completed rebuilding the hotel in late 2025.[30].

As of February 2024, Underwood still resided in Cerro Gordo.[31] His book "Ghost Town Living" was published in March 2024.[32]

Ghost Town Living (Book)

In 2024, Penguin Random House published Underwood's book, Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley, about his time living at Cerro Gordo.[33] The audiobook version of the book was recorded 900 feet underground in Cerro Gordo's Union Mine.[34]

The book debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.[35]

References

  1. ↑ d'Avignon, Angella (15 June 2020). "They Live Alone in Ghost Towns". New York Times.
  2. ↑ Sherman, Erik (7 March 2016). "Here's How People Fake Being Best-Selling Authors". INC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 Fletcher, Blake (22 February 2016). "Creative Marketing Prodigy (with Brent Underwood)". Half Hour Intern.
  4. ↑ Lock, Cheryl. "Co-op vs. Condo: Which One Is Right for You?". NewYork.com.
  5. 1 2 Moore, Jason. "The Hostel Experience : An Interview With HK Austin Owner Brent Underwood". Zero To Travel. Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
  6. ↑ "I job-hopped to travel". CNN. 9 April 2013. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013.
  7. ↑ STEWART, KAYLA (16 October 2015). "'Nomadic Matt' Opens His First Hostel in East Austin". Patch.
  8. ↑ Pell, Roxie. "Long-Term Travelers Reinvent Hostels By Opening Their Own". Frommers. Archived from the original on 2025-01-23.
  9. ↑ Seale, Shelley. "Travel fanatic opens doors to hip new hostel in the heart of East Austin". CultureMap.
  10. ↑ "BUSINESS LESSONS FROM STARTING THE HOTTEST HOSTEL IN AMERICA AN INTERVIEW WITH BRENT UNDERWOOD". Mitch Matthews. 21 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Palmer, Alex. "The Indie Authors Guide to Organizing Author Events". Publishers Weekly.
  12. ↑ Mahdawi, Arwa (4 September 2017). "It's all about, Inc – how to get ahead in the age of egonomics". The Guardian.
  13. 1 2 "How to write a bestseller". Sunrise on 7.
  14. ↑ HAUSEN, JOHANNES. "Hobby-author exposes how easy it storms the Amazon bestseller lists" (in German). VICE. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Dilworth, Dianna (7 March 2016). "Author of Fake Book Lands Book Deal".
  16. ↑ Meadows, Chris (26 February 2016). "Becoming an 'Amazon Bestseller' can be surprisingly simple". Teleread.
  17. ↑ Holiday, Ryan (7 March 2016). "How This Marketer Created a Fake Best Seller—And Got a Real Book Deal". New York Observer.
  18. ↑ Underwood, Brent (23 February 2016). "Behind the Scam: What Does It Take to Be a 'Best-Selling Author'? $3 and 5 Minutes". Observer.
  19. ↑ "Man Reveals How Scam Artists Hack Amazon to Become 'Best Selling' Authors". NextShark. 15 March 2016.
  20. ↑ Weller, Chris. "This guy became a 'best-selling author' in just 5 minutes — here's how he did it". Business Insider.
  21. ↑ Gomez, Melissa (18 July 2018). "They Bought a Ghost Town for $1.4 Million. Now They Want to Revive It". New York Times.
  22. ↑ FLEMMING, JACK (17 July 2018). "California ghost town sells for $1.4 million; buyers plan to develop it as a tourist attraction". Los Angeles Times.
  23. ↑ Vera, Amir (17 July 2018). "Search California ghost town sells for $1.4 million". CNN.
  24. ↑ Hoffower, Hillary. "A real-life Westworld in California sold for over $1 million to a group of Los Angeles investors who plan to use it for festivals and photoshoots". Business Insider.
  25. ↑ Waters, Michael. "So You Bought A Ghost Town". The Outline.
  26. ↑ "I bought a ghost town - then got trapped there". BBC. 16 September 2020.
  27. ↑ "Cerro Gordo Is TikTok's Favorite Ghost Town — With a Dark Past - YouTube". www.youtube.com. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  28. ↑ Butler, Gavin (25 January 2021). "This Guy Bought A Ghost Town". VICE.
  29. ↑ An influencer who bought a California ghost town is ready to die there, SF Gate, Andrew Chamings, February 22, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  30. ↑ "The American Hotel is Finally Back...After 5 Years". YouTube. 28 June 2025.
  31. ↑ Thompson, Polly. "I bought a California ghost town for $1.4 million. Living here gets lonely — but I've found my purpose". Business Insider.
  32. ↑ Underwood, Brent (19 March 2024). Ghost Town Living. Penguin Random House. ISBN 9780593578445.
  33. ↑ Calise, Gabrielle. "The Florida man who bought a ghost town wrote a book inside the mines". Tampa Bay Times.
  34. ↑ "How I Recorded My Audiobook—in a Mine Shaft 900 Feet Underground". Publishers Weekly.
  35. ↑ "Bestselling Books". New York Times.
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