In the same month that foreclosure proceedings began on Oleg Cassini’s Upper East Side townhouse, the former Long Island home of the late fashion designer has gone to contract after its price was cut down to $13.5 million.
The 43.5-acre estate owned by Cassini at 313 McCouns Lane in Oyster Bay hit the market a year ago asking $19.5 million. Cassini, who died in 2006 at 92, was the grandson of a Russian-Italian count and rose to prominence as a dressmaker for former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, whose own compound on Martha’s Vineyard is now for sale at $65 million.
Oleg Cassini in 1955 (Wikimedia Commons)
In late June, the contents of Cassini’s Italian Renaissance style-mansion, known as Moorelands, came up for public auction as part of a process that will see his $60 million estate liquidated by Manhattan-based Doyle Auctioneers and Appraisers, Newsday reported.
Available items include artwork, furniture, hundreds of luxury cars and letters from both Kennedy and the actress Grace Kelly (to whom he was once engaged), according to the outlet, which noted that the Oyster Bay property itself had its price reduced to $13.5 million in May before going to contract. The identity of the buyer is not yet known.
The sale of the three-story Oyster Bay home, which was built in 1915 and has 14 bedrooms, eight-and-a-half bathrooms and eight fireplaces, is being handled by Philip Laffey of Laffey Real Estate. (The firm is separate from Laffey Fine Homes International, an outfit led by Laffey’s brother that last year joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices of America.)
Cassini’s Oyster Bay estate also includes a pool, tennis court, two barns and a carriage house with four apartments. The potential sale of the property comes as Lynx Asset Services, a lending company in Florida, has started foreclosure proceedings on a townhouse at 15 East 63rd Street from which Cassini previously ran his fashion businesses.
In July 2018, Lynx sent Cassini’s widow a notice of default on a $9.5 million mortgage for the townhouse, which earlier this year had an asking price pegged at $50 million. [Newsday] — Aidan Gardiner