Kenny G returns home to Seattle

Craig McCaw’s – formerly Kenny G’s – Hunts Point Home

Kenny G (Gorelick) returned home last week for eight performances at Seattle’s Jazz Alley. A review of his performances was in The Seattle Times on 4/27/12.

He used to live on the Hunts Point property, with two mansions, pictured above. He was born in Seattle and went to Franklin HS where he played in the jazz band and played on the golf team. He is now one of the top celebrity amateur golfers. On summer evenings when he lived in Hunts Point he would sometimes sit on the end of the dock and play his saxophone. His beautiful music would resonate throughout the cove.

Kenny G won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Forever in Love. He is best known for his saxophone playing. He is the best selling instrumentalist in the world with over 70 million singles and albums sold. His album Breathless sold 12 million copies. Songbird was his first number one singles hit in 1986. His other popular singles include Forever In Love, Sentimental, Silhouette and The Wedding Song. He composes and writes most of his songs along with songs for others.

This property is now the home (LW 130 Homes page 152 and 153) of Craig and Susan McCaw. It was purchased in 1999 from Kenny G in a private transaction estimated at more than $20 million. The two mansions have 15,810 sq ft on 4.3 acres with 327 feet of waterfront, 8 bedrooms and 10.5 baths.

Susan is a former U.S. Ambassador to Austria. Craig was the leader or the world famous McCaw brothers, Bruce (1946- ), Craig (1949- ), John (1951- ) and Keith (1953-2002). Keith and John formerly lived in Madison Park (4/16/12 LW Cruising post) and Bruce recently sold his Medina estate (2/13/11 post). The brothers grew their deceased (1969) father’s, Elroy’s, businesses into the 20th largest cable carrier in the U.S. In the early 1980s they started in the fledging cellular phone industry. They founded Kirkland-based McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. in 1984. In 1986 they sold the cable business for $750 million and bought MCI’s wireless operations for $122 million. McCaw Cellular went public in 1987 raising $2 billion. In 1994, with Craig as CEO, McCaw Cellular was sold to AT&T for $11.5 billion. Following the sale Craig’s net worth was $2.6 billion and each of the brothers’ was slightly less.

Kenny G is a friend of the McCaw families and performs at family weddings and other events. It is rumored that he stays in the 4,760 sq ft guest house in the lower left (partially obscured by trees) of the bottom picture when he is in the Seattle area. After selling the Hunts Point property he purchased a Malibu, CA compound on the oceanfront from actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

$9 Million Seattle WF Sale 2011 – Richard Robbins

This Harrison/Denny-Blaine mansion is on page 35 of LW 130 Homes and is 7,060 sq ft on 0.8 acres with 120 feet of waterfront. This is the former home of Richard J. and Bonnie Robbins. The mansion was purchased 7/11/11 for $9 million by LD and LAI LLC whose members are Aileen Dong and Alice Shen.

Richard Robbins was President of Kent-based The Robbins Company from 1958 to 1993 when it was acquired by Sweden-based Atlas Copco AB. The Robbins Company (Richard is now a Director) invents, engineers, develops and produces tunnel boring machines. It now operates as a subsidiary of Atlas. Richard’s father, James S. Robbins, founded The Robbins Company in 1952. Richard took over at the age of 25, two years after earning his engineering degree and upon the untimely death of his father. Richard and the company are noted for innovative designs that have enabled projects such as the English Channel tunnel and many aqueduct and hydro power tunnels. Richard holds 67 U.S. and foreign patents. He is now President of Seattle-based Robbins Group LLC which focuses on research and product development for The Robbins Company. In 2009 he received the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Engineering from the Philadelphia-based Franklin Institute.

The property was listed for sale for $10.8 million (Bob Bennion and Bob Deville, Windermere): “Exquisite 1932 Tudor Revival home with lake and mountain views, privately situated on .9+/- acre lot w/ beach house and 120' waterfront w/ dock. Available for first time in 40 years! Elegant dayrooms with pine-paneled walls; 2005 kitchen designed by Nils Finne and built by Schultz Miller; view terrace; 5 bedrooms; 5 baths; 4 fireplaces; office; rec room; wine cellar; 2-car garage. Beach house with kitchen, fireplace and 2 baths. Lovely grounds with sweeping lawns, mature plantings and tram.”

Up the hill above this home, Kurt Cobain, a famous Seattle musician, rented a house in the 1990s. He committed suicide in the house’s greenhouse April 5, 1994 and afterwards the greenhouse was torn down. A bench in Viretta Park also just above this home, is host to a makeshift shrine to Kurt. Thousands of fans of the music of Cobain’s band, Nirvana, have come here to pay tribute and guidebooks list the park as the “Kurt Cobain Park.”

Barry Ackerley (1935-2011) Mansion

View From Dock

This is the former Denny-Blaine home of Barry and Ginger Ackerley. The mansion was purchased from the Ackerleys 6/11/2008 for $13.3 million by Dr. Frederic Hutchins Moll. The property was listed for sale for $15.0 Million in 2009 (Betsy Terry, Ewing and Clark) and later taken off the market.

Barry Ackerley (1935-2011) is a former owner of the NBA Seattle SuperSonics (aka Sonics). He purchased the Sonics in 1983 from Sam Schulman, who founded the team in 1967. The team won the NBA championship in 1979. During the 18 years of Ackerley’s ownership the team reached the playoffs 13 times. From The Seattle Times obituary: “Mr. Ackerley sold the Sonics in 2001 to a group of investors led by Howard Schultz [page 21 LW 130 Homes]. Mr. Ackerley was saddened when the team relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.” The team made the playoffs only once after it was sold by Ackerley in 2001. The Times article also noted “Ackerley came to Seattle and became its baron of billboards.” He was the founder and former Chairman/CEO of The Ackerley Group. The Ackerley Group owned television and radio stations that were purchased by Clear Channel Communications in 2001.

Dr. Moll graduated from Seattle’s Lakeside HS in 1969. (Other LW 130 Homes graduates of Lakeside include Charles Pigott ’47, Craig McCaw ’68, Paul Allen ’71 and Bill Gates ’73.) Dr. Moll received his MD from UW Medical School. He was a surgeon at Virginia Mason in Seattle. In 1989, Dr. Moll co-founded Silicon Valley based Origin Medsystems, Inc., a medical device company, which was acquired by Eli Lilly in 1992 in a $150 million deal. In November 1995, Dr. Moll co-founded Intuitive Surgical Inc., another Silicon Valley medical device company, and served as its first CEO. The company raised $6 million in a 2000 IPO. He co-founded Silicon Valley CA based Hansen Medical in 2002. The company designs and manufactures medical robotics. He was CEO from inception to 2010 when he was named Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. He resigned in 2011 and joined the BOD of Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation in Florida. Maybe he is moving back to this home.

The mansion is on page 33 of LW 130 Homes and has 6,580 sq ft on 0.46 acres. It is a prime lot on a point with 146 feet of waterfront and two docks, a tennis court and swimming pool.

Paul Allen’s Yachts

The 414 ft $200 Million Octopus

octopus-eventective.com

The 302 ft $162 Million Tatoosh

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The 199 ft $80 Million Meduse

meduse-yacht1-boatinternational.com

Paul Allen is known for many things and one of them is his luxury yachts. His largest ones are pictured above. He is reported to own over fifteen 50 ft+ luxury yachts. Two of them are tenders on the Octopus. The Octopus was in the national news, including The Associated Press/Seattle Times 4/4/12 article, for the yacht’s use in a South Pacific search for a missing U. S. pilot. The pilot was involved in an official pursuit of illegal fishing operations.

The Octopus when it was launched in 2003 was listed as the largest and most expensive privately owned yacht. The mega-yacht has two helipads with enclosed hangers, seven boats used as tenders and runabouts, two submarines, several personal watercraft (PWC – sometimes improperly called jet-skis), a pool, a basketball court, 13 staterooms and 26 crew cabins on seven levels with more than 50,000 sq ft under roof. The Bornrich site now has it listed at number nine and his Tatoosh at number ten in its list of the 16 top privately owned super-yachts. The top ranked private yacht is the $485 million 558 foot long Eclipse owned by Russian multi-billionaire, Roman Abramovich.

The price of the Octopus and Tatoosh are each more than the estimated and appraised $150 million value of his 10 acre, 100,000+ sq ft under roof, campus/compound on Mercer Island. This compound with a viewing guide was featured in a 12/28/10 post. More information on Allen’s super-yachts can be found by clicking on the links for the Octopus, the Tatoosh and the Meduse.

Nordstrom Waterfront Park – Mercer Island

 

This is the site of the Nordstrom family private waterfront park. From 1999 through 2009, James F. Jr (Jamie) and Lisa Nordstrom purchased, for $9.1 million, 4 parcels from the George W. Clarke estate and family. The last 3 undeveloped parcels, with 300 ft of waterfront on 1 acre, were acquired in 2008 and 2009. The mansion, up the hill, is 5,140 sq ft. The waterfront has a park-like setting with a recently erected “cabana with deck” structure that looks like it is for parties and picnics. There are docks for multiple yachts and watercraft. It is an ideal setting for family gatherings including Seafair.

Jamie (age 38) is the great grandson of John W. Nordstrom, the founder of Seattle based Nordstrom, Inc. He is EVP of the company and President of Nordstrom Direct. Numerous Nordstrom families reside on Mercer Island. They have generously contributed to and supported many community causes.

George W. Clarke was a well-known and respected community and family leader. He served in the Washington state House and Senate from 1966 to 1985. He died in 2006 at the age of 100. He had nine grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren when he died. This was previously known as the Clarke family private waterfront park. Clarke families still reside in the immediate area.

LW Waterfront Welfare Mansion

A Lake Washington waterfront welfare recipient, who is living in a $3 million mansion, has been in recent local and national news. ($3 million is my estimated value of the mansion. The appraised value is $1.2 million.)

A 12/7/11 KING 5 News post by Chris Ingalls has the most information and a video of the home and story. According to KING 5, Lyudmila Shimonova, who has received $135,000 in government (Seattle Housing Authority and HUD) housing assistance, has lived in the mansion since 2003. The mansion is owned by Seattle doctor David Silverstein. The KING 5 article stated, “ . . . Shimonova identified [Silverstein] as her landlord when she filed for housing and cash assistance and food stamps. Government investigators believe Silverstein and Shimonova are actually married and that they live together in the lakeside house. . . . [government] Inspectors [annual inspections] . . . never reported any suspicion about fraud, according to the Seattle Housing Authority. . . Neither Shimonova or Silverstein has been charged.” The mansion has 53 feet of prime waterfront with a dock, boat and fantastic views of Mount Rainier.

View from Mansion

Dykstra (Lenny) – Going to Jail

Dykstra Boat and Home

Those are Susan’s and David’s – not Lenny’s. (More information on our boat and home is on the Happy Hours blog.) We are NOT related to Lenny Dykstra! I’ve often been asked if I am related to him. I liked it better when he was a baseball superstar.

Lenny, a former star with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, was sentenced yesterday in California to three years in prison. He pleaded no contest to grand-theft auto and providing false financial statements. He had previously pleaded not guilty to 25 charges including indecently exposing himself to females he met on Craigslist and possession of cocaine, Ecstasy and illegal synthetic hormones. You can read more in almost every major news publication, including Sports Illustrated/CNN.

Mastro Pieces and Michael’s Mansion

Mastro’s Former Medina Mansion

“Mastro Pieces” is the title of today’s Seattle Times article on the auction of Michael Mastro’s items that he left behind before he and his wife disappeared last summer. They remain at large following warrants for their arrest and court orders that they turn over jewelry valued at $1.4 million.The courts confiscated items left behind. These include the following items (and the auction net prices): 2007 Bentley ($95,500), Chihuly chandelier ($35,000), Steinway piano ($17,000) and four bottles of wine ($2,200). The auction netted a total $341,000.

The mansion was sold by the bankruptcy court in 2010 for $9.1 million. Unpaid debts are more than $270 million.

The Mastro bankruptcy, with original debts of $570 million, is the largest in Washington state’s history. Many “family and friends” lost their fortunes when his commercial real estate investment funds failed. More information about Mastro and his former Medina Mansion is in previous posts on 4/6/11, 11/10/10, 10/11/10 and 11/12/09 and Lake Washington 130 Homes on page 126.

Bensussen buys Olsons’ Hunts Point Mansion – $11 Million

Hunts Point – “The Bellisima”

The $11 million sale was recorded 1/23/12. The buyer was listed as ERGL LLC whose agent and manager is Eric Bensussen. He is the Co-Founder (with Barry Deutsch) and President of Woodinville based Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, Inc (aka BDA Inc.) The company’s slogan is “Evolving Branded Merchandise.” A 10/15/2000 Puget Sound Business Journal article by Sharon Baker featured the founders and the start of the company. “Eric Bensussen, then 20, and Jay Deutsch, all of 17, launched their Woodinville company by selling Seattle Seahawks sweatshirts in 1984. . . the duo now run an operation that could bring in some $140 million in sales this year, up from $108 million in 1999. . . provides promotional merchandise -- those freebie hats and T-shirts, pens and other merchandise emblazoned with company logos -- as part of an overall promotional strategy for firms such as The Boeing Co., Microsoft Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Nintendo of America Inc. . . .” The company is now international, revenue exceeded $250 million in 2010 and clients include Coca-Cola, Major League Baseball and GEICO.

This mansion, “The Bellisima,” was featured in a 3/11/11 post when it was listed for $14.1 million. (The listing price was $12.9 million at the time of the sale.) The mansion (page 136 in LW 130 Homes) is near the center of the eastern shore of Fairweather Bay. It was listed by Tere Foster and Becky Gray, Windermere. The sellers, Rodney and Janice Olson, purchased the Hunts Point 2 acre tip on 3/31/11 for $14.8 million (see 6/11/11 post).

Paul Maritz Exec of the Year – Silicon Valley

Paul and Yaffa Maritz’s Mercer Island Home

Paul Maritz, a former Microsoft top executive, was named the Silicon Valley Business Journal's 2011 Executive of the Year. “2011 has been tough for many of Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies . . . All the while, VMware Inc. has been . . . steadily growing its business and developing new products that have kept it at the forefront of its industry. That's why, in this week's Business Journal, we named VMware CEO Paul Maritz as our Executive of the Year. . . is planning an expansion that will more than triple the size of its headquarters campus.”

He joined the company as CEO in 2008. VMware provides virtualization (cloud computing) software. Maritz’ corporate statement is “VMware enables our customers’ success by simplifying and automating IT in the Cloud Era.” Maritz was also the recipient of Computerworld’s 2011 Morgan Stanley Leadership Award for Global Commerce, “which recognizes individuals whose personal leadership has made a critical contribution to the effective use of information technology throughout the world.”

He was with Microsoft from 1986 to 2000. His last position was executive vice president of the Platforms Strategy and Developer Group. He was part of the 5-person executive management team and, according to Wikipedia, was the third-ranking executive behind Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. He was responsible for most of Microsoft's desktop and server software, including Windows and Internet Explorer.

He has maintained his Mercer Island home that is near and south of Paul Allen’s campus/compound.  A major expansion of this home and dock house was completed in 2003. The living area is now 8,040 sq ft and the property is 1.6 acres with 169 feet of waterfront.