Tag: Texas

Deviant Robert Durst Defeats Justice In Death

That billionaire murderer Robert Durst effectively becomes an innocent man in death is utterly outrageous; that he has defeated justice is ludicrous and the key question now is: “Who gets his fortune?”

The beyond bonkers billionaire Robert Durst – who outrageously was allowed to die in a hospital rather than prison yesterday – was undoubtedly a serial killer. How many people he killed will forever now remain likely unknown, but without doubt this megalomaniac 78-year-old slayed not only his best friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles, California in December 2000 but also his neighbour Morris Black in Galveston, Texas in October 2001.

Deviant Durst, whose wife, Kathie, disappeared without trace in January 1982, will not be missed by anyone – not even his relatives; they came to a settlement with him in 2006 in which they bunged him £46 million ($65 million, €53 million or درهم239 million) as part of a likely since unfulfilled hope that he’d disappear and shut his almighty gob – amazingly now ‘technically’ will be in death an innocent man.

Speaking to The Guardian this morning, a former federal prosecutor with no involvement in the case, Neama Rahmani, commented:

“As the law is right now, Durst’s conviction will be vacated and it’s like it never happened. This is such a unique case. It’s really unprecedented that someone can be involved in three different murders in three states and escape justice.”

Going further of this crackpot crazy crossdresser, Westchester county district attorney Mimi Rocah added:

“After 40 years spent seeking justice for her death, I know how upsetting this news must be for Kathleen Durst’s family. We had hoped to allow them the opportunity to see Mr Durst finally face charges for Kathleen’s murder because we know that all families never stop wanting closure, justice and accountability.”

Expressing sympathy for the victims, John Lewin, the LA county deputy district attorney who prosecuted Durst for Berman’s murder concluded:

“It’s a shame when anybody loses their life, however, it’s important to keep in mind that Bob Durst lived to be 78 years old, decades longer than two of his victims. To the end he was hostile, unrepentant, and unremorseful. My thoughts and sympathies lie with his victims.”

Now, however, a new legal battle will likely ensue between this murdering monster’s ‘wife’ since 2000, Debrah Lee Charatan and his birth family. There are hundreds of millions at play and no doubt that’s the only battle we’ll now sadly actually see come to play in court.

Pictured top – Robert Durst with his ‘disappeared’ since 1982 first wife Kathie McCormack. He was ‘technically’ married to her until 1990.

The now forevermore only “suspected” serial killer came to wider public attention after ‘The Jinx’ went viral. During filming of the documentary, he declared to camera: “There it is. You’re caught! …. You’re right, of course. But you can’t imagine. … Arrest him … I don’t know what’s in the house … Oh, I want this … What a disaster … He was right. I was wrong. And the burping … I’m having difficulty with the question … What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” He subsequently chillingly added: “I did not tell the whole truth, nobody tells the whole truth.”

Robert and Kathie Durst on their wedding day with one of their dogs. In total, during their marriage, the couple supposedly had seven dogs. All of them were named Igor and of them, in a “rare interview with the ‘New York Times’ in January 2015, Douglas Durst, the head of the family’s real estate empire, shared that his oddball brother had practiced “killing and disposing his wife” using the dogs. He declared: “Before the disappearance of my sister-in-law, Bob had a series of Alaskan Malamutes, which is like a husky. He had seven of them, and they all died, mysteriously, of different things, within six months of his owning them. All of them named Igor. We don’t know how they died, and what happened to their bodies. In retrospect, I now believe he was practicing killing and disposing his wife with those dogs.”

This seriously sinister got away with killing Morris Black based on claiming self-defense in spite of dismembering his body. He was convicted of killing his friend Susan Berman in September 2021, but with his death this will now be voided thanks to a legal technicality as his case was under appeal. Sadly, this psycho will now never face trial for the death of his first wife, Kathie, and though he was potentially also linked to the disappearances of Lynne Schulze from Middlebury, Vermont in 1971 and Karen Mitchell from Eureka, California and Kristen Modafferi, who was last seen in San Francisco in 1997, he’ll never face justice for what he likely did to them either.

The serial killer’s younger brother, Douglas, commented of his sibling in March 2015: “We hope he will finally be held accountable for all he has done.” Sadly, this monster’s death has ended the possibility of that.

In mid-2002, Robert Durst signed over a power of attorney to Debrah Lee Charatan (pictured top with her “late” husband Steve Holm and lower right with her now deceased replacement for him). In 2006, he gave her around £14 million ($20 million, €16 million or درهم73 million) and to this date she continues to plug her trade online at BCBprop.com.

January 11, 2022
The Deviant Mr Durst

“Nervous” Robert Durst’s latest murder trial moves into second week after President Biden’s wife’s first husband reveals he had an affair with the deviant billionaire’s to-this-day still missing first wife

Last month a “former college football player” turned college bar operator named Bill Stevenson claimed that he slept with Kathie Durst, the missing since January 1982 then wife of the beyond bonkers billionaire Robert Durst, ten days before she vanished into thin air from South Salem, New York. At the time, Stevenson was married to 46^th President of the United States Joe Biden’s now wife, Jill.

78-year-old Mr Durst – currently on trial for the murder of the mobster’s daughter Susan Berman in Los Angeles, California in December 2000 and previously acquitted of the murder of his neighbour, Morris Black, in Galveston, Texas in October 2001 in spite of admitting dismembering his body – returns to court today. Last week, this deranged deviant bizarrely admitting to disguising himself in a wig to hide from the “die-hard Trump supporter and Fox News personality,” Westchester County, New York District Attorney Jeanine Pirro in October 2000.

According to the Daily Beast, Durst – whose beyond odd personality was exposed when he tellingly declared: “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course” in the 2015 six-part HBO series The Jinx – “panicked and flew to Dallas” to hide from Pirro after she announced she was reopening the cold case of his first wife’s disappearance. At the time, Pirro announced: “I have no reason to believe that she isn’t dead and that this wasn’t a homicide.”

Elsewhere late last week, Fox News highlighted Robert Durst shared that he had smoked “lots of marijuana” as well as taken cocaine and methamphetamine before his first wife’s disappearance and claimed he had had a “traumatised childhood” after “witnessing his mother either fall or jump to her death.” KTLA 5, meanwhile, shared footage where he declared: “Talking to the jury makes me nervous.”

As of date, Durst’s second wife, self-professed wannabe “female Harry Helmsley” and real estate executive Debrah Lee Charatan, has yet to get a mention in trial notes, but she surely eventually will. The Daily Mail once noted her as audaciously announcing: “I knew if I couldn’t be a star, I wouldn’t be happy.” She’s frankly instead lucky that she didn’t end up another victim.

Robert and Kathie Durst on their wedding day with one of their dogs. In total, during their marriage, the couple supposedly had seven dogs. All of them were named Igor and of them, in a “rare interview with the ‘New York Times’ in January 2015, Douglas Durst, the head of the family’s real estate empire, shared that his oddball brother had practiced “killing and disposing his wife” using the dogs. He declared: “Before the disappearance of my sister-in-law, Bob had a series of Alaskan Malamutes, which is like a husky. He had seven of them, and they all died, mysteriously, of different things, within six months of his owning them. All of them named Igor. We don’t know how they died, and what happened to their bodies. In retrospect, I now believe he was practicing killing and disposing his wife with those dogs.”

Robert Durst with his friend turned alleged victim Susan Berman (centre) and alleged victim first wife Kathie Durst (right).

Then married couple Bill and Jill Stevenson. Mr Stevenson alleges he had sexual relations with Kathie Durst ten days before she disappeared and claims this might explain her disappearance. Jill Stevenson went on to later marry Joe Biden subsequently.

The suspected serial killer came to wider public attention after ‘The Jinx’ went viral. During filming of the documentary, he declared to camera: “There it is. You’re caught! …. You’re right, of course. But you can’t imagine. … Arrest him … I don’t know what’s in the house … Oh, I want this … What a disaster … He was right. I was wrong. And the burping … I’m having difficulty with the question … What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.”

Robert Durst, whom got away with killing Morris Black based on claiming self-defense in spite of dismembering his body, stands accused of killing his friend Susan Berman in the current trial. It is likely he could subsequently face trial for the death of his first wife, Kathie, and he is potentially also linked to the disappearances of Lynne Schulze from Middlebury, Vermont in 1971 and Karen Mitchell from Eureka, California and Kristen Modafferi, who was last seen in San Francisco in 1997.

August 16, 2021
Deviant Durst Deservedly Denied

Real estate royal, bigamist and body dismemberer Robert Durst is deservedly denied an indefinite halt to his trial as his lawyer attacks the reputation of one of this suspected serial killer’s likely victims

Defended only by Donald Trump – whom once remarked of him on Twitter: “Personally, I think Douglas Durst’s brother got screwed by Douglas – no wonder he’s angry” – cross dressing real estate scion Robert Durst, a man accused of murdering his one-time best friend Susan Berman in 2000 unsurprisingly didn’t manage to get his latest trial halted indefinitely this week.

Clearly deviant beyond belief and a man whom drank Jack Daniels and smoked pot before hacking apart the body of his then neighbour, Morris Black, and chucking his body in Galveston Bay in 2001, this definite deviant also remains a suspect in the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Kathie. Here, indeed, is someone with a plainly warped beyond weird moral compass and here is a 78-year-old with no concept of right and wrong.

Speaking of him in court in Los Angeles yesterday, Durst’s own attorney, Dick DeGuerin remarked on the “awful, awful dismemberment” as a “sickly… Durst blinked occasionally but [showed] no outward sign of emotion,” according to ABC News’ Brian Melley. DeGuerin then continued: “He doesn’t make good decisions… [but he] did not kill Susan Berman and he doesn’t know who did… [He] had no motive to gain by the death of Susan Berman.”

Turning to the slayed victim, DeGuerin condescendingly continued: “She was a fabulist. She made up stories. She told lies day in and day out.”

DeGuerin and others thus far have neglected to mention another of his client’s decidedly dodgy traits: In March 2020, this evil looking man’s “secret second wife,” Debrah Lee Charatan, was damned as a “bigamist” by a lawyer for the sister of Kathie Durst. Speaking to the New York Post, Robert Abrams remarked: “Plain and simple, she violated the law, she is a bigamist.”

Going further of Charatan having had another husband “until his death in 2019,” Abrams added: “There is no question that while married to Mr Durst, Mrs Charatan purported to contract a marriage with Steven Holm.”

After being forced to cut ties to his family empire in 2006, Robert Durst was bunged £46 million ($65 million, €53 million or درهم239 million) as part of a likely since unfulfilled hope that he’d disappear and shut his almighty gob. He handed £14 million ($20 million, €16 million or درهم73 million) of that to Debrah Lee Charatan. She continues to plug her trade online at BCBprop.com.

Murder victim journalist Susan Berman (1945 – 2000) pictured with her one-time ‘bestie’ turned alleged killer. Mobster’s daughter Berman was found dead on Christmas Eve 2000 at her home in Benedict Canyon, California. Her body was found in an “execution style” setting, but it was not until March 2015 that Durst was arrested and charged in New Orleans with her first degree murder.

Debrah Lee Charatan pictured with her late “husband” Steven Holm.

A ‘lounging’ Debrah Lee Charatan (left) and pictured with another of her husbands, Robert Durst (right).

Robert Durst pictured with his “disappeared” first wife, Kathie. This week Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah announced her office is reopening the investigation into the 1982 disappearance. Of this, Rocah remarked: “At the time that this alleged homicide occurred… We did not have the same understanding of domestic violence, and how that kind of abuse could play into relationships and how it could frankly color law enforcement – and by that I mean police and prosecutors’ perspectives. So we will investigate this… It is challenging to do it after so long and we want to do it right. This has been around, and the family obviously wants and needs closure, I think, a whole community wants and needs closure.”

May 21, 2021
A Mini White House in Mississippi
Colonial Revival ‘Mini White House’ on an 8-acre plot in Mississippi for sale for just £299,000 or just £56 per square foot; the mini mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Lauded as a “southern beauty” and a “most extravagant expression of Colonial Revival architecture,” neoclassical 240 South Extension Street in Hazlehurst, Mississippi was built between 1906 and 1907 to the designs of the architects Barber & Kluttz of Knoxville, Tennessee. It does have a slight look of the White House and it certainly seems a bargain at just £299,000 compared to the £15 million Texan mansion we featured in March.

The 5,376 square foot house stands on a plot of 7.79 acres and includes 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It is described as having a “long history of family ownership” and is currently offered for sale through agents McIntosh & Associates LLC, Realtors.

Named ‘The Robert L. Covington House’ in honour of a gentleman of the same name (whom was born in 1875 and died in 1960), the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and is noted as having “the popular French taste of the decade in its finishes and furnishings.” Mahogany abounds and especially noteworthy is the variety of fireplaces throughout.

Hazlehurst is situated 30 miles south of the Mississippi state capital, Jackson. Pulitzer Prize winning Crimes of the Heart playwright Beth Henley was born in the small city (population circa 4,000) and in the 1960s, there was much civil rights activity and “violence against blacks in this area” according to Wikipedia.

Pictured top: The grand front elevation of ‘The Robert L. Covington House’ could be mistaken for a miniature version of The White House.

The Numbers – The Robert L. Covington House, 240 South Extension Street, Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Mississippi, MS 39083, United States of America
- July 2020 – For sale for £299,000 ($378,000, €335,000 or درهم544,000) through McIntosh & Associates LLC, Realtors.
Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

A plaque was erected on the house in 1984 by the United States Department of the Interior stating that it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The South Portico of the White House is not hugely dissimilar from the front elevation of ‘The Robert Lowery Covington House.’

Agents McIntosh & Associates LLC Realtors describe the entrance porch as “amazing.” Of the house, they state: “If only the walls could talk they would tell us of history of long ago. You will fall head over heels with this beautiful one of a kind historic home. You would actually feel as if you owned a piece of history.” It does have a slight feel of Twelve Oaks, the plantation home of the Wilkes family in ‘Gone with the Wind.’

The entrance hall and staircase are notable for their grandeur.

They open directly to several reception spaces and feature Doric columns.

The current owner appears to have cleared out the majority of their furnishings.

Another entertaining space.

A sunroom with a view over the lawned gardens.

The kitchen is certainly basic in its current configuration.

One of four bedrooms.

Another bedroom.

There is one bathroom on the ground floor and two more on the first floor.

The house has a number of original fireplaces in a variety of styles.

The exterior is described by the agents as being a “most extravagant expression of Colonial Revival architecture.”

The building impresses from its principal angle.

It is less grand from the rear.

But more commanding from the street.

Looking from the porch into the neighbourhood.

The property includes a total of 7.79 acres of gardens and grounds.

Jackson, Mississippi is 30 miles to the north whilst New Orleans, Louisiana is 160 miles to the south.

This YouTube video tour of Hazlehurst, Mississippi gives an impression of the city and its citizens in 1947.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qchP6dk88dY
A video tour of the town (with its name incorrectly spelt as ‘Hazelhurst’). One comment left below it remarks: “Nicely kept, clean, tidy, old, open town” and adds: “I liked it, but it just looks so dead.”
July 12, 2020
Roy Clark’s Roller

‘I Never Picked Cotton’ singer Roy Clark’s Rolls-Royce heads to auction complete with suicide doors and emblazoned with his initials in gold leaf

American Hee Haw host and country singer Roy Clark (1933 – 2018) was best known for songs such as Yesterday, When I Was Young and Thank God and Greyhound. Now, enthusiasts of this tobacco farmer’s son have the opportunity to buy a piece of his memorabilia in the form of a Rolls-Royce that he owned for some forty years.

Last offered without reserve at the Leake Auction Company sale in Tulsa in June 2019, the dark red 1964 Phantom V touring limousine by James Young was owned by the star from 1977 until his death. Clark paid $19,500 (the equivalent of £70,000, $86,000, €79,000 or درهم316,000 today) when he purchased it and after it was subsequently sold to a “noted private collection in Texas,” they lavished £24,000 ($30,000, €27,000 or درهم110,000) on servicing it in 2019 and 2020.

This month, RM Sotheby’s will sell the Rolls-Royce – which is currently located in Austin, Texas – as part of their 21^st to 29^th May ‘Driving Into Summer’ online sale. They have set an estimate of £49,000 to £57,000 ($60,000 to $70,000, €55,000 to €64,000 or درهم220,000 to درهم257,000). Of the car, they remark:

“The limousine is finished in a lovely shade of dark red and accented by a gold pinstripe running the length of the car. The initials “RC” are prominently featured on the driver’s side passenger door. The interior is trimmed in tan leather and is accented by beautiful woodwork throughout. The driver compartment features Smiths instrumentation, an AM/FM radio, and an altimeter in the passenger glove box door. Furthermore, the car is equipped with electric windows and air conditioning which is vented into both the driver and passenger compartments. A division window separates the driver from the passengers. The rear compartment is the epitome of 1960s luxury and features dual footrests, fold-out jump seats, pillar-mounted flower vases, reading lights, and a Smiths clock while fold-out picnic tables flank a small cocktail bar with crystal decanters and glassware.”

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

May 20, 2020
A Bowled Down Price

Texan estate for sale for sum 43% less than in 2011; it comes with the “finest private bowling alley in America” and a car museum

In March 2015, The Steeple Times featured a Texan mansion described by some as “more iconic than Southfork.” Back then this “replica of George Washington’s Virginia estate” had been for sale for four years already and now, in March 2020, it’s still on the market.

Offered at prices as high as £26.1 million and as low as £12 million, Mount Vernon overlooks White Rock Lake in Dallas and was built between 1928 and 1930. It was sold in 1938 to one of the world’s largest oil baron’s, H. L. Hunt (1889 – 1974) – a man “reputed to have the highest net worth of any individual in the world” at the time of his death.

John Amend with Laura Bush at the bowling alley at Mount Vernon and with his wife Teresa.

One of the entrances to Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America.

Passing on to a commercial real estate tycoon and fellow supporter of the Bush political dynasty named John Amend in 1999, the 10,511 square foot house was subsequently renovated and aside from creating spaces including a prayer room, a 10,000 bottle wine cellar, a 1950s style diner and a car museum, what is considered to be the finest private bowling centre in America was added. It comes complete with a digital jukebox that has over 500,000 songs on its concert hall quality sound system

Whilst Mr Amend and his wife Teresa hosted guests including Glenn Close and President George W. Bush at Mount Vernon, in 2011 they decided to “simplify their lives” and placed it for sale. In the time since, its yoyo-ed on and off the market but speaking about the property to the Dallas News in February this year, realtor Allie Beth Allman claimed the Amends have now “made it a goal to sell the property this year.” She went further and stated:

“Many interested buyers have made offers, but the family has been reluctant to sell… The kids are just now at the age that they really enjoy it, and they spend a lot of time over there. It’s hard to give that up when your grandkids are saying, ‘Oh, don’t sell.’”

Allie Beth Allman & Associates now seek £14.9 million for Mount Vernon and the 10 acres that surround it.

The Names & Numbers – Mount Vernon, 4009 West Lawther Drive, Dallas, Texas, TX 75214, United States of America

March 2020 – Relisted at £14.9 million ($18.5 million, €16.6 million or درهم67.9 million) and still for sale through Allie Beth Allman & Associates.

May 2019 – Relisted at a price of £12 million ($14.9 million, €13.4 million or درهم54.7 million).

May 2016 – Relisted at a price of £14.1 million ($17.5 million, €15.7 million or درهم64.3 million).

March 2015 – Featured in The Steeple Times whilst listed with Allie Beth Allman & Associates and Christie’s Real Estate at a price of £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).

September 2013 – Reduced in price to £15.3 million ($19 million, €17 million or درهم68 million).

November 2012 – Reduced in price to £23.7 million ($29.5 million, €26.5 million or درهم108.3 million).

2011 – Placed for sale for £26.1 million ($32.5 million, €29.2 million or درهم119.4 million).

2004 – Hosted its first event as “the nation’s finest professionally equipped bowling centre.” The alley reportedly cost £1.16 million ($1.45 million, €1.3 million or درهم5.33 million) to construct.

2002 – Renovated and expanded.

1999 – Sold to the self-declared real estate “pioneer and innovator” John T. Amend and his wife Teresa for an undisclosed sum.

1938 – Sold by Thomas Y. Pickett to Harold Lafayette Hunt, Jr. for $69,000 or the equivalent of £740,000 today ($922,000, €826,000 or درهم3.4 million today).

Facebook: @TheSteepleTimes

Instagram: @TheSteepleTimes

Twitter: @SteepleTimes

March 29, 2020
The World’s Most Flirtatious Car

Off-the-wall 24-carat gold 1958 Austin Healey that would appeal to Liberace to be sold at auction in New York with an estimate of £420,000

A truly bonkers one-off 1958 Austin-Healey 100-Six that was given the monikers ‘Goldie’ and ‘The Golden Child’ is to be sold at auction in December.

For sale for 165% less than it was offered for in 2013 but 781% more than it was valued at in 1958, ‘Goldie’ is capable of speeds of upto 120 miles per hour but what makes her unique is that all brightwork – including the trimming washers and screws, wire wheels, disc brakes, bumpers and instruments – are plated in 24-carat gold.

The car’s interior is trimmed in champagne Connolly kid leather and champagne diadem mink by London furrier Lorna Doon Snow adorn the inserts and back squabs of the bucket seats and the key ring comes complete with a solid-gold scale replica of the car itself.

The brainchild of Donald Healey’s then PR manager, Ken Gregory, in association with the Daily Express’s then motoring correspondent, Basil Cardew, ‘Goldie’ was the show-stopping car exhibited at the entrance to the 1958 London Motor Show at Earl’s Court. She reportedly wowed audiences and no doubt would have been dubbed a ‘dream machine’ by the motoring world’s most extravagant doyenne, Lady Docker.

Sold immediately to the paper the Daily Express dedicated a page to the promotion of a reader competition to win ‘Goldie’ on 22^nd October 1958. Of her, they remarked:

“[This is] the world’s most flirtatious car… The Daily Express has bought it… You can win it. She’s elegant… she wears mink… and she adores champagne. No, not the girl… the car!”

“The real stuff… The most sumptuous… A vintage squirt… The biggest sensation of the [Motor Show at Earl’s Court]… Yes, you could call it the car that was born with a golden spoon in its mouth!”

“In the whole of the land there isn’t anything to match it.”

Surprisingly, the winner of the competition decided to sell the vehicle immediately. She was first road-registered in February 1959 and then passed through various owners until being completely restored by Bruce and Inan Phillips of Healey Surgeons of Washington, D.C. between 1983 and 1986.

Speaking of what the current marketing catalogue entry describes as “the most spectacular Austin Healey ever produced,” Inan Phillips is said to have remarked: “[‘Goldie’ was] one fantastic running and driving car… The smoothest driving Austin Healey we’ve ever owned.”

In time sold to a wealthy businessman and Jeep restorer named Dennis Collins from Wylie, Texas, ‘Goldie’ was offered for sale first on eBay and then at auction in Houston, Texas for £758,000 in 2013 and 2014. It appears no sale went through and now an estimate of £265,000 to £417,000 has been set for this striking creation.

RM Sotheby’s will sell ‘Goldie’ at their annual New York ‘Icons’ sale on 6^th December. They list the vehicle as being “without reserve.” If only Liberace were still around to put in a bid.

‘Goldie’ – The Numbers

December 2017 – Offered for sale at auction with no reserve and an estimate of £265,000 to £417,000 ($350,000 to $550,000, €300,000 to €471,000 or درهم1.3 million to درهم2 million) in New York.

January 2014 – Offered for sale with a ‘buy-it-now’ price of £758,000 ($1 million, €857,000 or درهم3.7 million) on eBay.

March 2013 – Offered for sale for £758,000 ($1 million, €857,000 or درهم3.7 million) in Houston, Texas by Collins Brothers Jeep owner Dennis Collins.

October 1958 – Valued at £4,000 (the equivalent of £86,000, $113,000, €97,000 or درهم417,000 today) prior to being sold to the Daily Express and offered in a reader competition in London.

November 12, 2017
Palming Off Il Palmetto

Billionaire founder of Netscape has failed to sell his Palm Beach mansion in a year; it remains on the market for £105 million (or 754% more than he paid for it in 1999)

Four times married, a father of four and a collector of rather large gin palaces, Texan James H. Clark founded Netscape in 1994 and earnt $2 billion (the equivalent of $3 billion, £2.3 billion, €2.6 billion or درهم11 billion today) from that project when it was sold to AOL in 1998.

Clark paid just $11 million for a Palm Beach mansion named ‘Il Palmetto’ in 1999 (the equivalent of $16.2 million, £12.3 million €13.8 million or درهم59.5 million today) and spent four years renovating the 5.46-acre property. He placed it for sale for $137 million (£105 million, €117 million or درهم503 million) last August but has plainly failed to attract a buyer.

Built to the designs of the Swiss architect Maurice Fatio (1897 – 1943) as an “Italian Renaissance-style palazzo” in 1930, the house – which is also known as 1500 South Ocean Boulevard – is described by selling agents Sotheby’s International Realty as “without peer in Palm Beach.” The building was subjected to a four year renovation by Mr Clark, reportedly extends to around 44,200 square foot and aside from including 10 bedrooms, 14 full-bathrooms and 12 partial-bathrooms, also comes with a 20,000 bottle wine cellar and a second cellar for an additional 1,000 crates.

Architecturally “a series of pavilions connected by cloisters,” the main house is dominated by formal entertaining areas with 16^th century carved ceilings and accessed from a private tunnel underneath the road is a 2-bedroom beach house with an infinity pool that “blends into the turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean.” To the other boundary, on Lake Worth, is a boathouse with motorised launches for two vessels and a 2-bedroom apartment above.

July 30, 2017
Five of the Best – Auctions America Auburn Spring

Five of the best lots on offer at the Auctions America Auburn Spring, Indiana sale of classic and modern cars and military lots

From 11^th to 13^th May at the Auburn Auction Park in Auburn Spring in Indiana, USA, Auctions America will sell a vast range of cars and military lots. Here, we choose our five favourite lots on offer:

1920 Ford Model T Coupé – £6,500 to £8,100 ($8,000 to $10,000, €7,600 to €9,400 or درهم29,400 to درهم36,700)

With over 16.5 million built between 1908 and 1927, the Ford Model T stands at the eighth most sold cars of all time. Undoubtedly the first affordable car produced, an example from 1920 provides an affordable way to start a classic car collection. The example offered also reflects the sentiments of Henry Ford (1863 – 1947), whom once said: “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black”.

1930 Cunningham V8 33286 Hearse – £64,600 to £80,700 ($80,000 to $100,000, €75,600 to €94,500 or درهم293,800 to درهم367,300)

A perfect mode of conveyance for the Addams Family or Ozzy Osbourne, this hearse was built by the James Cunningham & Sons Company of Rochester, New York. It has a cathedral like coffin compartment featuring carved wood and has been owned by three generations of the Peterson family, owners of the Howe-Peterson Funeral Home business of Dearborn, Michigan. The firm was established in 1873 but is about to close down.

1941 Packard One-Eighty Convertible Victoria by Darrin – £302,800 to £343,200 ($375,000 to $425,000, €354,300 to €401,500 or درهم1.4 million to درهم1.6 million)

Finished in cream over saddle leather with a dark chocolate canvas top and period-appropriate wide whitewall tyres, this striking convertible is described as being in “excellent driving condition”. It was delivered new to Houston, Texas and was the creation of Howard ‘Dutch’ Darrin (1897 – 1982), a polo playing airline owner turned automotive designer.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette 427/390 Coupé – £80,700 to £100,900 ($100,000 to $125,000, €75,600 to €118,100 or درهم293,800 to درهم459,100)

“One of the most special Corvettes ever made”, this Marlboro Red coupé is presented in original and unrestored condition. It has only had two owners from new and has covered just 27,000 miles in its fifty year life.

1992 AM General M998 Humvee – £12,100 to £16,200 ($15,000 to $20,000, €14,200 to €18,900 or درهم55,100 to درهم73,500)

Featuring a 6.5-litre engine and definitely something Arnold Schwarzenegger would love, this cargo-troop carrier has a gross vehicle weight rating of 3.9-tonnes. It certainly could go anywhere and requires “no further demilitarization”.

April 10, 2017
Douglas Durst

“Real estate royal” Douglas Durst had his leg amputated in 2015 and is the brother of the cross-dressing body dismemberer and suspected killer Robert Durst. The part owner of one of America’s top organic farms, Durst is a prominent environmentalist and owns, as part of his $5.2 billion portfolio, a $100 million or 10% stake in the new One World Trade Centre building. Of him, Donald Trump once bizarrely tweeted: “Personally, I think Douglas Durst’s brother got screwed by Douglas – no wonder he’s angry”.

Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:[wysija_form id=”2″]

September 18, 2016