Jeffery Epstein-linked billionaire pays $37M for former Obama rental home on Martha's Vineyard

New York Post

a day ago

A Martha's Vineyard estate once favored by the Obamas as a summer retreat has quietly changed hands for $37 million — $2 million below its May asking price.
The buyer is a trust tied to billionaire retail magnate Les Wexner, the longtime head of L Brands and founder of Victoria's Secret, according to the Real Deal.
Known as Blue Heron Farm, the 28.5-acre Chilmark property had been off the market for more than a decade, following an extensive transformation under its previous owners, British architect Norman Foster and his wife, Elena Ochoa Foster.
9 The Martha's Vineyard estate once rented by Barack and Michelle Obama as their summer retreat has sold for $37 million.
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9 The home sold to a trust linked to Ohio-based billionaire Les Wexner, founder of L Brands and former close associate of Jeffrey Epstein.
The couple bought the estate in 2011 for $22.4 million and overhauled it into a secluded compound blending historic charm with sleek modern amenities.
It was listed this spring for $39 million with agents Brian Dougherty and Maggie Gold Seelig of Corcoran, and went under contract just weeks later.
The deal closed on July 10, according to public records.
9 Known as Blue Heron Farm, the 28.5-acre waterfront compound hosted the Obamas for three summers starting in 2009.
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9 The Obamas reportedly paid $50,000 a week during their time in the home.
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During the Obama presidency, the secluded property served as the family's vacation home for three consecutive summers beginning in 2009.
At the time, they were said to have paid roughly $50,000 a week to rent it.
The Obamas stopped returning after the Fosters bought the home and ended its rental availability.
The estate includes a 7,000-square-foot main residence with a wraparound porch, plus a guesthouse, a design studio, a gym, a tennis court, equestrian facilities and a private dock.
9 After architect Norman Foster and his wife, Elena Ochoa Foster, purchased the property in 2011 for $22.4 million, they renovated and withdrew it from the rental market.
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A barn originally constructed in Pennsylvania over 150 years ago now anchors the entry drive.
Under Foster's tenure, a new pool house was added, echoing the clean lines of his firm's more urban projects, including London's Gherkin and the new Wembley Stadium.
The buyer, according to records, is a trust managed by Matthew Zieger, Wexner's longtime attorney.
While Wexner did not comment, the 87-year-old tycoon has deep real estate ties in Ohio, where L Brands is headquartered, and in Jupiter, Fla., where he owns additional property with his wife Abigail.
9 The estate, listed for $39 million in May, features a 7,000-square-foot main home, a guesthouse, a modern pool house, a gym, a tennis court, stables and a relocated 150-year-old Pennsylvania barn.
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His name has also resurfaced in recent years due to his decades-long personal and professional relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, who served as his financial adviser until 2007.
Though no longer renters, the Obamas remained fond of Blue Heron Farm. According to Foster, the former president once made a lighthearted attempt to reclaim it.
In a New Yorker interview, Foster recalled the former president applied 'jokey pressure' to resume the rental arrangement.
'Sadly, no,' Foster told him at the time, politely declining.
9 The Obamas, drawn by the property's privacy and serenity, later bought their own $11.65 million Martha's Vineyard home in 2019 and also maintain residences in Washington, DC, Chicago and reportedly Hawaii.
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Afterward, the Obamas pivoted to another Martha's Vineyard rental before purchasing their own home on the island in 2019 for $11.65 million — a nine-bedroom, 8.5-bath residence formerly owned by Joe Lockhart, a former White House press secretary.
Michelle Obama later joked about the layout on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' saying, 'He got so shortchanged on this whole deal. He doesn't have enough closet space, sorry! He's got the smallest room for his office.'
The couple also owns homes in Washington, DC's Kalorama neighborhood and in Chicago's Kenwood, which they bought in 2005.
9 The deal closed July 10, marking a rare high-end transaction in the area and further expanding Wexner's already sprawling real estate portfolio.
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9 Les Wexner.
Courtesy Hulu
In addition, they are rumored to be connected to a beachfront compound under development in Oahu by longtime friend Marty Nesbitt. One of three homes on the $8.1 million site is believed to be intended for the Obamas.
For the Fosters, parting ways with Blue Heron Farm marks the end of a deeply personal project.
A statement from the listing described it as 'a historic estate with notable farming roots' that had been 'meticulously updated and modernized … with significant investments made in timeless renovations, extensive foliage planting and build-out for new amenities.'
But for the Obamas, its draw was more emotional. In a previous statement, Dougherty and Gold Seelig explained, the family initially chose the property 'for its incredible privacy, serenity and significance.'