Exclusive | Libbie Mugrabis Hamptons mansion speeds to rare court-ordered auction after failing to sell for $25M
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try — and try again.Socialite Libbie Mugrabi’s East End mansion is scheduled to be auctioned off on the steps of Southampton Town Hall next month following failed Hail Mary attempts to sell it through a conventional listing — and in the kind of public spectacle the haute classes of the Hamptons really hate.The court-ordered sale, with bidding starting at $11 million, is set for Aug.28.
It traces its origin to lawsuits stemming from a $3.5 million loan Mugrabi took out on her 486 Middle Line Highway compound and admittedly never paid. The auction of the 7-acre Bridgehampton compound follows Mugrabi’s failed attempts to get back the loan amount, and much more, by selling the estate for its original May list price of $25 million.Not long after that, the asking price lowered to $19 million after two quick price cuts. Bidders on the property must pay in cash, take the property as-is and put down at least $2 million as a deposit, according to the auction’s marketing materials.Mugrabi got the 10,687-square-foot Bridgehampton spread as part of her $100 million divorce settlement with billionaire art collector David Mugrabi five years ago.
The split, called one of the nastiest ever in New York, featured an array of accusations, including the pair physically fighting over a $500,000 Keith Haring sculpture.Mugrabi’s lender agreed to go the auction route rather than seize the property as long as it sold by Aug.25, with a chunk of the proceeds going to pay off the loan and associated penalties.
The accord came after Mugrabi and her attorney vehemently protested the lender buying the property last year for $500 at a Zoom auction, at which it was the only bidder. With the sale deadline approaching and no buyers in sight, the lender, affiliated with REO Assets of America, Great Neck, N.Y., is preparing to pull the trigger on the auction — and on Friday put in place the legal machination to do so in the form of the court-orde...