$110M FOR THE MONSTER ’ S MANSIONS
New York pad that Andrew visited is one of two Epstein homes for sale
THE estate agent describes one luxury home as a ‘historic landmark’ and the other as a ‘beautiful lakefront residence’.
But the new owners of these properties worth a combined $110million will have to reckon with a different part of their history: their last resident was Jeffrey Epstein.
The $88million mansion in Manhattan and the $22million house in Palm Beach, Florida, where the paedophile ran his sex-trafficking operation, have gone on the market.
There is no mention of their dark past on the listings and the agents believe buyers will look past their notoriety.
Some of the disgraced financier’s furniture is even included in the sale of the New York property. However, personal items, including diamonds and pictures of underage girls in the safe, were removed during an FBI raid.
The properties are the first of his homes to go on the market but the others will follow, including his two $83million private Caribbean islands.
The money will go to the estate of Epstein, who hanged himself last August while awaiting trial on sextrafficking charges. But ultimately it could go to his victims under a compensation scheme run by the estate’s lawyers that began taking applications last month and could use up his entire $651million worth.
The listing for Epstein’s mansion at 9 East 71st Street in New York leans heavily on the property’s history. Estate agent Modlin says it was built in 1930 by Herbert N Straus, an heir to the Macy’s department store fortune. He commissioned architect
‘Gargantuan size and opulence’
Horace Trumbauer to create one of the finest mansions of the Gilded Age, the listing adds.
The property sits with ‘commanding authority in a neighbourhood steeped in New York’s richest history’ and is opposite the Frick Art collection, just one block from Central Park.
At seven storeys tall and 28,000 sq ft in area, its ‘gargantuan size and opulence is perhaps only outdone by its unique location’, continues the sales pitch.
The listing notes the imported French limestone with carvings and 15ft tall oak entrance doors.
It was out of those doors that
Prince Andrew was photographed waving to a brunette during his last visit to Epstein in 2010.
Inside, the Duke of York reportedly received a foot massage from one of Epstein’s associates while watching The King’s Speech film about his stuttering grandfather.
The listing says the property was a hospital and school before being sold to a new owner – Epstein is not named – in 1989 and converted into the ‘ultimate private residence’. The listing adds: ‘This presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own the largest single-family home in New York.’
The second house on the market is at 358 El Brillo Way in Palm Beach. About a mile from Donald
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, it is where police began their inquiry into Epstein in the mid-2000s.
The listing with estate agents Corcoran states: ‘Beautiful lakefront residence in the prestigious Estate Section on El Brillo Way.
‘Westerly views. Staff house, pool house, three-car garage. Southern exposure.’ The listing features photos of the views and outside pool rather than the interiors.
It also notes local schools, a grim irony given that Epstein recruited victims from high schools nearby.
Houses owned by disgraced public figures do sell. Jason Haber, a New York estate agent at Warburg Realty, said: ‘Even the most notorious homes have found a buyer.
‘Buyers have been able to look past the headlines and what happened there. It’s not like the house committed a crime.’
‘Even notorious homes find a buyer’