Saudi royals battle over dilapidated Beverly Hills mansions

A couple of divorced Saudi royals at loggerheads over a dual-mansion estate in Beverly Hills have renewed their fight over who will replace the ruined carpets to sell the property.

The tooth-and-claw battle over the cost of renovations comes nine months after Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his ex-wife, Princess Fahdah Husain Abdulrahman Al-Athel, had agreed to a legal settlement, Bloomberg reported.

A lawyer for the princess accused the prince of holding up repairs at two manor houses within the 2.3-acre property at 76 Beverly Park Lane in Beverly Park, court records show.

She wants a judge to order the prince to sign off on a contractor to perform the work.

“It is clear the source of the delay is Prince Faisal, who is refusing to approve or fund the repairs deemed necessary,” according to an unsealed Oct. 24 filing in Delaware Chancery Court. A Delaware holding company legally owns the compound.

Jason Jowers, a lawyer for the prince, said his client rejects his ex-wife’s allegations “and will oppose the motion” to force him to honor a settlement the pair worked out earlier about upkeep of the home.

The couple, who were married in 2001, paid $16.8 million a decade later for the 29,000-square-foot estate, which includes two Italian villa-style mansions, with 18 bedrooms and 28 baths, plus a large pool and a cabana. Neighbors include actor Mark Wahlberg, Platinum Equity fund CEO Tom Gores and retired baseball player Barry Bonds.

Each mansion opens with a grand two-story foyer, which flows into arched hallways leading to living spaces. The royal couple divorced in 2016.
The prince then accused his former wife of failing to maintain the property and pay its taxes. He also demanded the return of a $41 million loan earmarked for renovations.

The couple also clashed over who had the right to sell the mansions, whose condition has now fallen into such disrepair they aren’t salable, according to court filings.

“The landscaping is mostly dead, the pool is empty and the water lines emptied,” the princess’ attorney said in filings. “Much of the carpeting throughout the property was stained, damaged or generally unusable.”

A Delaware judge in February approved the settlement of a three-year lawsuit between the warring royals, but allowed lawyers to file court documents with the cost estimates for the repairs blacked out.

While the princess pushes to renovate the estate so it can be sold, the prince is worried the contractor tapped by real-estate agents will “exceed substantially” the agreed-upon budget for repairs.

The princess’ attorneys claim the prince is holding up repairs to drain her bank account.

“The prince has breached the terms of the settlement agreement and is engaged in a pattern of delays — the purpose being to frustrate the sale process and deplete the princess’s financial resources,” her attorneys contend.

— Dana Bartholomew

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