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.

Marty Lott - Person of the Year – 2011

Marty and Sharon Lott’s Mercer Island Home

The Advertising Specialty Institute^® recently named Marty Lott “2011 Person of the Year.” In 2008 he ranked No. 1 in the Institute^®’s Power 50 list of the industry's most influential leaders. Marty is the founder and president of Issaquah based SanMar. The company is a leading supplier of apparel and accessories.

In 1971 when he was in college Marty started the company in his parents’ Seattle garage. From an initial offering of a few T-shirts and one backpack the company has grown to over 40,000 SKUs with 15 retail, mill and private label brands housed in six national distribution centers covering 3.25 million square feet and employing more than 1,800 staff members. It has remained family owned and operated and recently had a 40^th birthday party celebration.

The company is an award-winning supplier of 14 retail, private label and mill brands. It supplies apparel and accessories to screen printers, embroiderers, promotional products distributors, athletic dealers, industrial launderers, etc. SanMar is the exclusive distributor of Nike Golf, OGIO® and New Era®. Its other retail brands include Gildan®, Jerzees®, and Hanes®. SanMar also produces Port Authority®, America's No.1 private clothing label. Red House®, Port & Company®, District Threads®, Sport-Tek®, CornerStone® and Precious Cargo® complete its high-quality private label offerings.

A major expansion of the Lott's Mercer Island home was completed over the last three years. It now has a total of 12,310 sq ft. The property is 1.8 acres with 150 feet of waterfront. It is eight properties south of Paul Allen’s campus/compound.

President Obama – Bill Gates

Bill Gates supported President Obama with his attendance at the fundraising lunch at the mansion of Jeff and Susan Brotman on February 17, 2012. This event was reported today in The Seattle Times. The Times reported the $17,900 per plate brunch was attended by approximately 70 people. Natalie Cole performed and the lunch was prepared by renowned chef, Tom Douglas. An earlier post has more information on the event.

Gates and Brotman are Medina neighbors with Jeff Bezos’ mansions in between. The Brotman mansion is in the exclusive cove of Medina that includes Nathan Myhrvold’s T-Rex house, Charles Simonyi’s Windows 2000 house and Gary Reed’s former estate. Cruising, boating and viewing this area is featured in Lake Washington Cruising blog posts (5/8/11 and 5/4/11).

Jeff is the Chairman and co-founder of Costco. The mansion, as reported in the New York Times and my earlier post, is known as “Their Art House.”

The A through F letters in the above picture of Gates’ mansion and convention center refer to a “Guide For Viewing Gates’ Mansion From the Water.” The page number on all the above mansion pictures refer to Lake Washington 130 Homes.

Newport Shores – Venice of Lake Washington

Newport Shores is a Bellevue neighborhood built in the 1960s and consists of man-made peninsulas and canals. The neighborhood has 343 homes on 172 acres. 100 of the homes are on lake or canal waterfront. The 25 homes that are on the lake have larger lots, lake views and have higher average valuations. Three of these homes have been recently listed for sale or sold for more than $4.8 million. These homes were featured in a Lake Washington Cruising blog post.

The protected canals are wonderful for large yachts. Many of the homeowners’ yachts that are moored in front of their houses are more expensive than their homes. Neighborhood block parties are often on the yachts. The Newport Yacht Club is located within the neighborhood and has a clubhouse, swimming pool, tennis courts, other amenities and a 119 boat slip marina. Various forms of membership to the club come with owning a home in Newport Shores.

The main canal has two branch canals. The total length of the canals is slightly less than one mile. The canals are wide and easy to navigate but less than no-wake speeds are mandatory.

Paul Allen Charity

Paul Allen’s charity donations in 2011 were the most generous of any living American donor. This was reported in The Chronicle Of Philanthropy on 2/6/12 and summarized in a 2/7/12 Puget Sound Business Journal article by Emily Parkhurst. Allen gave a total of $372 million to charity. He gave $295 million to his own Allen Family Foundation and $70 million to the Allen Institute for Brain Science. The Allen Family Foundation has numerous programs including libraries, education, science, arts and culture.

Allen was number three on the list of all American donors. Two deceased donors gave more. Margaret A. Cargill from Minnesota bequeathed $6 billion and William S. Dietrich II of Pittsburgh bequeathed $500 million. Bill Gates was not on this year’s Chronicle’s list of the 50 most generous people in America.

Paul Allen and his Mercer Island private campus/compound/estate are on pages 64 and 65 in Lake Washington 130 Homes. The book highlights the charity activities of owners of the mansions in the book. Previous posts in this blog regarding Paul Allen were about his book, Idea Man, (4/22/11) and a guide for viewing his Mercer Island campus (12/28/10).

Paul Allen’s Private $150 million, 9.6 acre campus/compound/estate

Obama – Brotman Brunch

President Obama will return to the Brotmans for a fundraising brunch on February 17, 2012. This was reported in the Seattle Times in an Associated Press article on February 1. The $17,900 per plate brunch will be at the mansion of Jeff and Susan Brotman. The funds will be used for Obama’s reelection campaign and to support the Democratic National Committee. The Brotmans previously hosted a $7,500 per plate Democratic fundraising lunch with Michelle Obama on October 25, 2010. The mansion is in the exclusive cove of Medina that includes Nathan Myhrvold’s T-Rex house, Charles Simonyi’s Window 2000 house and Gary Reed’s former estate. The mansion is on page 98 in Lake Washington 130 Homes.

Jeff is the Chairman and co-founder of Costco. The mansion, as reported in the New York Times, is known as “Their Art House” that includes monumental pieces by Richard Serra and James Turrell. The house was designed by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects who are known for designing art-galleries-cum-residences. The louvers on the front (water side) and roof of the house adjust to provide the optimum natural light on the extensive art collection.