Donald Trump’s childhood home in Queens sold for $1.93 million after a renovation transformed the New York City residence from a mold-ridden den of feral cats into a modern abode.
The president lived at the Tudor-style Jamaica Estates house until age 4. His father, developer Fred Trump, built the home in the affluent neighborhood in 1940. The family hasn’t owned the property in years.
The $1.93 million sale price appeared on real estate websites Friday after a buyer, whose name hasn’t been disclosed, entered into a contract in July.
The seller, Tommy Lin, had purchased the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home last year for $835,000 after it sat vacant and neglected for years.
Lin, a developer, spent another $500,000 on an eight-month interior overhaul that added amenities including a chef’s kitchen, herringbone wood floors and spa-like bathrooms, the New York Post reported.
The home has changed hands several times in recent years, including a $2.14 million sale months after Trump became president in 2017, according to Zillow.
The buyer was an entity called Trump Birth Home LLC, and the property was briefly offered for rent on Airbnb, complete with a life-sized cardboard cutout of Trump, copies of his book “The Art of the Deal” and a framed People magazine cover featuring him.
It was listed for sale again in 2019 with an asking price of $2.9 million, but went unsold until Lin snapped it up.
In the interim the home fell into disrepair: a burst pipe caused water damage and mold, and a colony of feral cats took up residence where Trump spent his earliest years, the Post reported.
The president, now 80, built his fortune in real estate — putting up his namesake Trump Tower in Manhattan and living there for decades — before parlaying his fame and wealth into politics.
As president, he has overseen changes to his own official residence, adding a massive ballroom to the White House and adorning the Oval Office with gold-plated fixtures that echo the aesthetic of his properties.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
Source: fortune.com
