What does it feel like to have so much money that you can buy property worth more than $100 million, then knock down the posh home there just because? Ask William Lauder, who apparently serially razes mansions. Via Yahoo Finance, USA Today reports that the cosmetics billionaire, executive chair of Estee Lauder, is tearing down the Palm Beach, Florida, estate that used to be home to right-wing talk radio host Rush Limbaugh—a waterfront mansion on almost 3 acres that Lauder scooped up for $155 million in March.
Demolition has already started at the 1495 N. Ocean Blvd. property, purchased by Lauder from Limbaugh's widow. It's not the first time Lauder has bulldozed his buys to the ground: He tore down homes on two other Palm Beach lots and recently listed the parcels together for a sale price of $200 million, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year. Limbaugh's erstwhile two-story, five-bedroom manse, built in 1992, boasted almost 22,000 square feet; the parcel also featured two smaller residences.
Although no blueprints have yet been handed over to local officials, word is that Lauder plans on erecting a custom home on the land. Lauder isn't the only billionaire who has recently succumbed to the knock-it-down trend: A historic Houston mansion worth $24 million, purchased last year by Astros owner Jim Crane, was torn down this week. In that case, the residence was said to be ripe for razing, as the home had fallen on hard times due to "disuse and decay," per Chron.com. (More Rush Limbaugh stories.)
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