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You Can Own the San Francisco Home of Imprisoned Art Swindler Luke Brugnara for $19.7 Million
Brugnara was convicted of an $11 million art scam.
Brugnara was convicted of an $11 million art scam.
Eileen Kinsella ShareShare This Article
The former San Francisco home of imprisoned art fraudster Luke Brugnara has hit the market with an asking price of $19.7 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That makes it the second-most-expensive publicly listed property in the city, notes Curbed San Francisco.
Brugnara’s dramatic trial included an escape from custody and a hilarious exchange with the judge that ensued when Brugnara appeared in court without shoes.
The report calls the property, in the exclusive Sea Cliff neighborhood, “a spectacular mansion that was once used to store millions in stolen art,” further describing it as “a coral-colored Spanish Mediterranean hanging over the cliffs of China Beach.”
“Lucky Luke” Brugnara, a real-estate investor, is serving a seven-year sentence in federal prison after he was convicted of an $11 million art scam. In 2014, he arranged to have an art dealer deliver works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Edgar Degas and others to the home, but then refused to pay.
He was arrested and indicted in June 2014 after obtaining the artworks, which he said he was planning to install in a museum to be built in San Francisco.
FBI agents eventually recovered a drawing by Joan Miró, a series of Picasso etchings, 16 paintings that were originally attributed to Willem de Kooning—the authenticity of which has since been challenged—and a painting by George Luks. The Degas is still missing.
The property was built in 1925 and has seven bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a wine cellar, two fireplaces, and access to a secluded piece of beach.
Speaking to Curbed, realtor Mark Allan Levinson pointed out that the home is currently in “very tired condition,” but added that it’s a great opportunity “for someone who wants to make it their own.”