The ‘Scarface’ Mansion Is On Sale for $237 Million in Miami — This Is Its Wild History
The waterfront estate was once part of Nixon’s Winter White House and was built by a pilot convicted of drug smuggling.
Say hello to my little friend: a $237 million waterfront estate in Key Biscayne, Florida, where drug lord Frank Lopez lived in the iconic 1983 film Scarface. The property comes with the glass elevator showcased in the movie and the piano-shaped pool. If it sells anywhere near asking price, it would shatter Miami-Dade County’s real estate record.
The 2.38-acre property has a backstory as wild as the movie. It was once part of Richard Nixon’s Winter White House compound, where the president vacationed. Aides built a massive helicopter platform for it on Biscayne Bay. The modern 13,000-square-foot house was built around 1981 by Roberto Striedinger, a pilot later convicted of smuggling cocaine for the Medellín drug cartel. The U.S. government then seized it.
Current owner John Devaney bought the property in 2003 for $15 million. He founded broker-dealer United Capital Markets at 29 and later made Time’s “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis” list. Now he’s cashing in on the ultra-rich trophy property boom. The estate includes 862 feet of waterfrontage, a helipad-turned-marina that accommodates 200-foot yachts, and original wall-mounted toilets in bold green, orange, and yellow. Devaney hopes he’ll have more luck than other multi-million dollar listings on the market.
Say hello to my little friend: a $237 million waterfront estate in Key Biscayne, Florida, where drug lord Frank Lopez lived in the iconic 1983 film Scarface. The property comes with the glass elevator showcased in the movie and the piano-shaped pool. If it sells anywhere near asking price, it would shatter Miami-Dade County’s real estate record.
The 2.38-acre property has a backstory as wild as the movie. It was once part of Richard Nixon’s Winter White House compound, where the president vacationed. Aides built a massive helicopter platform for it on Biscayne Bay. The modern 13,000-square-foot house was built around 1981 by Roberto Striedinger, a pilot later convicted of smuggling cocaine for the Medellín drug cartel. The U.S. government then seized it.
Current owner John Devaney bought the property in 2003 for $15 million. He founded broker-dealer United Capital Markets at 29 and later made Time’s “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis” list. Now he’s cashing in on the ultra-rich trophy property boom. The estate includes 862 feet of waterfrontage, a helipad-turned-marina that accommodates 200-foot yachts, and original wall-mounted toilets in bold green, orange, and yellow. Devaney hopes he’ll have more luck than other multi-million dollar listings on the market.
