Wanna Buy Nicolas Cage's Money Pit?
<!--Yahoo! Finance evergreen article module--> <cite>by Aaron Smith
Friday, April 9, 2010
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Apparently not. At an auction held Wednesday in Los Angeles, no one was willing to throw down the minimum bid of $10.4 million.
Debt-ridden movie star Nicolas Cage lost his Bel Air mansion to foreclosure on Wednesday. The courthouse auction was a flop, as no one was willing to make the minimum $10.4 million bid. Stephen Shapiro, realtor and owner of Westside Estate Agency, said this clears out speculators and most lenders with stakes in the property, leaving Citibank as the sole owner. Cage owes $11 million to Citibank, the current owner of the mansion. Shapiro said he's had the house on the market for nearly a year and is trying to get approximately $11.5 million.
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<small>©Westside Estate Agency</small></td></tr></tbody></table> Living Room
Located in the posh Bel Air community of Los Angeles -- this party palace has had several high-profile owners, including Rat Packer Dean Martin, Welsh crooner Tom Jones, and most recently Nicolas Cage, an Oscar winner who has appeared in more than 60 movies, according to IMDB.com, including "Raising Arizona" and "Leaving Las Vegas."
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<small>©Westside Estate Agency
</small></td></tr></tbody></table> Bathroom
The bathroom and other parts of the house no longer contain Cage's possessions, including his extensive collection of framed comic books, samurai armor and giant Mickey Mouse statue. "Cage's possessions are what many people consider to be bizarre, not the house," said Shapiro.
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<small>©Westside Estate Agency
</small></td></tr></tbody></table> Kitchen
Nicolas Cage's former home was built in 1940 "on a flat acre in a prime Bel Air location," Shapiro said. "It's about 12,000 square feet of two-story English brick Tudor house. It's very old world craftsmanship, great detail, a lot of charm, but specific in its tastes."
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<small>©Westside Estate Agency
</small></td></tr></tbody></table> Hollywood Pool
It's important that Nicolas Cage's foreclosed home "should go to someone who wants to live there." Shapiro said. The person who will buy the house will be a resident. It's not going to be a speculator, because there's not enough money in it to flip it, he said.
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