Isaac and Claudia Kestenberg may be going through a divorce, but fortune has smiled at the end of their marriage. They own a compact 5-bed 4.5-bath Tudor-style in Queens which president-elect Donald Trump once called home. The Kestenbergs did have the house on the market for $1.2 million last month, before strategically pulling it to wait out the election. Now the house is considered a piece of U.S. Presidential history, and likely will fetch ten times the original asking price.
Initially listed at $1.65 million back in June, the price had come down considerably. The home was slated for auction, with bidding set to open at $849K.
I’d love to say we knew he’d win, but it was a gamble,” said Misha Haghani of Paramount Realty USA, who is handling the listing, in an interview with the New York Post. Superbroker Dolly Lenz echoed the sentiment, in another Post interview: “It is almost like gambling—what is the house worth?” she said. “The house has at least tripled in value…”
At least tripled in value, yes. But a gamble…not so much. The house would not have diminished in value considerably, if at all, had the election gone the other way. So it was just a little bit shrewd to pull the listing, and wait for November 9th to reconsider.
Now interest in the property is, of course, burgeoning. Many a well-heeled collector would like to own the property, and the Kestenbergs are poised to collect on its newly minted post-election cachet.
Kestenberg and his estranged wife bought the 1940 home in Jamaica Estates for $783K. It was built by Trump’s father Fred, a real-estate investor, who soon moved his growing family to a large brick mansion nearby when Donald was just 4 years old. It boasts formal dining room, living room with fireplace, a study, and a two-car garage.
Its listing on Streeteasy.com reads as follows: “Ideal For Large Or Extend Family. Brick & Stucco Tudor, 5 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths, Liv Rm, Fireplace, Formal Dining Rm, Eik W Sliders To Sun Rm, Paneled Study W Ose, Oak Floors. Full Finished Basement W Bonus Rm Includes Full Bath + 2 Outside Entrances, Summer Kitchen. 5-Car Driveway W 2-Car Detached Garage. Walk To Subway, Shopping. Birthplace Of President Elect Donald Trump.”
Perhaps the last sentence fragment should’ve come first in the order of things.
