Oleg Cassini[1]’s magnificent 43.5-acre estate in Oyster Bay, LI, has finally hit the market for $19.5 million.
Jackie O’s favorite fashion designer died in 2006, but his estate has been tied up in litigation[2] between his widow, Marianne Nestor Cassini, 68, and his four grandchildren.
The widow has been held for contempt of court in the Nassau County Correctional Center since May 3 for defying court orders to turn over business records and documents. Separately, the Nassau County public administrator wants to force the sale of one of her Manhattan mansions to pay the numerous judgments against her in the estate case — including a nearly $51 million charge for her improper behavior as administrator of her husband’s affairs.
Marianne is due back in court in Mineola on Thursday.
“Marianne has engaged in a pattern of obstructionist conduct the likes of which are rarely, if ever, seen in Surrogate’s Court,” lawyer Robert Harper, who represents the executors in charge of Oleg’s daughters Christina and Daria Cassini’s estates, said in a legal filing.
A lawyer for Marianne didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.
Marianne was always identified as Oleg’s “personal assistant” during his lifetime, but she announced after his death that they had been secretly married for over three decades.
Although she claimed the 14-bedroom Italian renaissance mansion in Oyster Bay as her primary residence, the court ordered it to be sold so that the grandchildren could finally collect some of their inheritance.
The listing shows the property has a tennis court, a swimming pool, stables and a staff house with four apartments. The lavish furnishings will be auctioned off separately.
References
- ^ Oleg Cassini (pagesix.com)
- ^ tied up