When Huguette Clark died at the age of 104 last year, all eyes were on her estate, and specifically her massive 5th Avenue apartments that have long been shrouded in mystery. Curbed now points to the 17,000 square foot mansion's floor plans, which the Real Deal got a hold of recently. The space is separated into three apartments, but the reclusive Clark was the only inhabitant of all three... unless you count her dolls. That's right, there was a creepy doll collection, which the cleaning staff (the only people allowed inside the hospitalized heiress's digs) attended to. Appraiser and real estate broker Barbara Fox declared, "There were dolls everywhere"—she is one of the only realtors allowed inside of the space, which the site offers a little history on: more ›

Yesterday, Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner reminded many of his father when he complained his players were complacent last season (you know, because they lost in the AL Championship Series), "Sometimes you celebrate too much, players concentrating on building mansions and not concentrating on winning." And since captain Derek Jeter is building a 30,000 square foot home in Tampa, Steinbrenner had to be referring to him, right? Well, Jeter doesn't think so! more ›

Yesterday morning, one of the security guards at rapper 50 Cent's 48,000 square foot Farmington, CT mansion discovered an empty Mazda outside the gate, so he called the cops. And then another security guard discovered a guy hiding in the manse. According to the Courant, Alexander Hernandez, 19, "was found in a closet drinking a bottle of wine that he had stolen from the home," while Santos Padilla, 21,"was found in a separate closet, police said. Both men had marijuana in their possession, police said." Oh, and it's also believed they were drunk before entering the home. more ›

Last week, an offer was made that many couldn't afford not to refuse when the “The Godfather” house on Staten Island was put on the market for $2.9 million. But a conspiracy may be afoot: the real estate broker who is selling the site of the Corleone mansion is the daughter-in-law of the real-life Godfather who was an inspiration for Don Corleone’s character. Connie Profaci is married to the son of “olive-oil king” Joe Profaci, the founder of one of New York’s five crime families (the Colombos), who was once described as “the nation’s No. 1 racketeer.” Even though the Profaci family has since gone legit, we are superstitious men, and know there are no such thing as coincidences; could Luca Brasi have paid someone a visit? more ›

Are you in the market for a new place to live? We've got quite the deal for you: private-equity kingpin J. Christopher Flowers is trying to sell his townhouse at 4 East 75th Street near Fifth Avenue. And though it was the most expensive residential property ever sold in NYC when Flowers bought it in 2006 for $53 million, Flowers has put the 114-year-old mansion on the market for the bargain basement price of $50 million! more ›

Did you know The Godfather production set up shop at the Norton family's home on Staten Island for a whole year and a half? In the early '70s, 110 Longfellow Avenue became the site of the Corleone mansion—and Mrs. Norton filmed about 8 hours of behind the scene footage (check out the interview with her son below), which will hopefully end up on DVD one day. more ›

Did you know Mae West was born in Brooklyn? Back in 1893 the star was born right in Bushwick, to a prizefighting pop and a model mom. In her younger years she lived in Woodhaven, Queens, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. However, once she made a name for herself via the Vaudeville stage and the Hollywood screen, she was on to greener pastures. Namely, 266 West End Avenue in Manhattan, where she eventually moved. more ›

That Long Island guy who decided to pay off the two mortgages on his $1 million McMansion by selling raffle tickets for his house at $50 a pop, and then burned all the suckers buyers by not holding the raffle at all and allegedly keeping the money? He's caught the attention of the Nassau county DA, who says 16,000 chumps people bought tickets from homeowner John Luongo. Or, as he puts it, they actually bought "portraits" of his five bedroom, 4 bathroom Massapequa home (painted "by a local artist") and received, as an added bonus, a "free" raffle ticket. But it looks like it was all scam!!! Last week Luongo posted this announcement on his From Raffles to Riches website: more ›

Things were looking grim for Long Island homeowner John Luongo last year. With a wife and child to support, he found himself $1.25 million behind on two mortgages he took out on his five bedroom, 4 bathroom home on a canal in Massapequa. Foreclosure loomed, but with his back against the wall Luongo came up with a plan: Start a $50 raffle for the property (which is appraised at $1.6 million dollars), use the money to pay off the mortgages, and walk away debt-free. He'd even throw in his 2007 Mercedes, valued at $95K! But would he find enough gullible rubes on the South Shore of Long Island for his scheme to work? more ›

Former Met Lenny Dykstra has filed a $100 million lawsuit to win back money he claims he lost after a bank tricked him into taking out loans he couldn't afford. The Twizzler lover, car-wash owner, and magazine publisher says an overly friendly loan officer at Washington Mutual convinced him to take out loans that were "untenable" when he was trying to buy former hockey star Wayne Gretsky's $17.2 million California mansion. more ›

That rumor that Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were leaving Greenwich Village for Park Slope? Totally a rumor. The NY Times finds out that the person who forked $8.45 million over for the mansion at 17 Prospect Park West is "a wealthy Google engineer and his wife who want to raise their young family away from the hustle and bustle and celebrity of SoHo, where the family now lives." Oh. The engineer, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "I hear people complain about the strollers in Park Slope. But try taking a stroller out in SoHo. SoHo is not exactly family-friendly." As for SJP, her spokeswoman "said that none of the scores of entertainment and real estate Web sites that picked up the story bothered to call to ask about Ms. Parker’s real estate plans." Snap! more ›

Victoria Gotti, daughter of the late Teflon Don John Gotti, is "bitter" about the foreclosure of her Old Westbury mansion. A panel of judges allowed Chase to start foreclosure proceedings; Gotti says that her ex, Carmine Agnello, took out a $700,000 mortgage behind her back (Chase says she never paid all the $25,000 monthly payments that were owed). Her mother told the Post that her daughter was "not in the mood to talk to anybody" and offered her own thoughts on her former son-in-law, calling him a creep. But Victoria Gotti did tell Newsday, "The house, all the marital assets, are part of a divorce package (settlement) I have never seen yet." The white brick, five-bedroom, and five-and-a-half bath home was seen on the A&E reality series Growing Up Gotti—in the past few years, Gotti has listed the home on the market for $4.8 million, $3.995 million, $3.899 million and most recently, between $3.2 million and $3.5 million. more ›

building into a home--with a gym, nanny suite, etc.--for his family. The tenants questioned whether Economakis would really live in the building, suspecting he would rent it out at market rates or flip it for millions, and the situation raised questions about rent laws for years. In the summer, the Court of Appeals ruled that Economakis could evict them; the Post says the tenants "gave in because they weren't confident they would beat" their landlord in Manhattan Supreme Court. A tenant added, "I don't think we can afford Manhattan anymore." more ›

The Daily News scored an exclusive account of life inside the Economakis building on East 3rd Street-- their intern Barry Paddock happens to be one of the tenants getting evicted: "In eviction papers, they laid out a plan to combine our cramped but beloved rent-stabilized apartments into a suburban-style mansion. Apartments on my floor would be demolished and replaced by a hanging walkway overlooking their new two-story living room." Bonus fact: the Economakis family paid less than $1M for the building in 2003-- about the cost of a one bedroom apartment in Manhattan today. more ›

Forget blowing your savings on a generic luxury condo. The NY Times has the story of a family who found their non-high rise dream home in the Bronx. Marcel and Sherrie Deans located their future home in June 2006, while driving through the Bronx (they rented in Harlem at the time). Their diamond in the rough, a mansion, was right there on Anthony Avenue. more ›