Former President Obama and his family are now permanent homeowners on Martha’s Vineyard, after completing the purchase this week of a large home situated on nearly 30 acres in the coastal perimeter of Edgartown.
The purchase price, recorded at 3:31 p.m. Wednesday with the Dukes County Registry of Deeds, is listed at $11.75 million. The buyer is a nominee trust representing the former First Family. The sellers are Wycliffe Grousbeck and Corinne Basler Grousbeck. Mr. Grousbeck is a private equity investor and owner of the Boston Celtics basketball team.
The sprawling 6,892-square-foot house sits on 29.3 secluded acres fronting the Edgartown Great Pond between Slough Cove and Turkeyland Cove, with views of a barrier beach and the ocean beyond. Designed by Bradenburger Taylor Lombardo Architects in San Francisco, the home was built in 2001 by John Early, a well-known Island contractor.
Landvest was both the listing and selling broker for the sale; the principal brokers are Gerret Conover and Tom LeClair. Ronald Rappaport, a partner at Reynolds, Rappaport, Kaplan and Hackney, is listed as the attorney for the buyers, according to records at the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank.
Mr. Rappaport declined to discuss the sale. “We don’t comment on these matters,” he said.
In an email to the Gazette, Mr. Conover and Mr. LeClair also declined to comment.
Rumors of the impending sale have been circulating since late this summer, when the Obamas rented the property for several weeks.
The home features seven bedrooms, eight and a half baths and several stone fireplaces. There is a two-car garage, a detached barn and a pool. The property has been on the market since 2015, when it was listed for $22.5 million. The price was dropped twice this summer, first to $16.25 million in June, then to $14.85 million in July.
The Grousbecks bought the land in 1998 from Geoffrey Gund for $3.1 million, records show.
And not just Obama either – other former Presidents and Prime Ministers often seem to be able to afford real estate worth a whole lot more than their public service salaries could otherwise afford.
There must be a fair bit of kickbacks that come with such prominent roles.
h/t DeathRattle