D.C. Repug Mucketymucks Ruin Kentucky Landmark
It's bad enough when native Kentuckians use their political power to destroy historic properties for no good reason. When rich D.C. repugs get in on the game, things have gone too far.
Cave Hill, the historic Lexington estate that once served as the state's temporary governor's mansion when John Y. Brown Jr. was in office, is in foreclosure and scheduled to be sold on July 27 at a Fayette County master commissioner sale.
Bruce Fein, a Washington D.C. constitutional lawyer, and his wife, Mattie Fein, own the property. They bought Cave Hill from Brown in July 2006, for $1.9 million.
The 17-acre estate, the site of elegant parties while Brown was governor, has a 7,500-square-foot residence — the original portion was built in 1821 — pool, tennis courts, a three-bedroom guesthouse, putting green and horse barn.
The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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In the past three years, the fortunes of the stately house and once immaculately groomed grounds have fallen on hard times. It is abandoned, neglected and a judge has ordered it be sold to pay the mortgage that the owners have defaulted on.
The historic mansion has been empty since it was purchased by the Feins, according to Mattie Fein. The couple put it back on the market in December 2006 for $2.45 million.
Glass in the back door has been broken out and trespassers jimmied the lock to get inside, said George, who has seen the mansion. Wood floors are warped from water damage. The recent ice storm left the lawn littered with broken limbs and downed trees, which have not been cleaned up.
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Bruce Fein, an assistant attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, writes a weekly column for the Washington Times and Slate, an online political magazine. He and his wife own Lichfield Group, which produces political shows for television and does celebrity public relations.
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The Browns entertained frequently, using Cave Hill to sell Kentucky, the former governor said. "It was part of our Kentucky presentation. It was a special place and people wanted to be invited to visit," he said.
The Browns threw elaborate post-Derby Day parties on the lawn. Guests included actor Gregory Peck, TV host Barbara Walters, singer Kenny Rogers, Miami Vice star Don Johnson, developer Donald Trump, artist Andy Warhol and boxing great Muhammad Ali. Bill and Hillary Clinton visited while he was governor of Arkansas.
The original section of Cave Hill was built in 1821, making it one of the oldest structures in the Bluegrass.
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This is in response to the Mucketymucks Ruin Kentucky Landmark.
It may interest you to know that upon my family purchasing Cave Hill in 2006 the house had a leaking roof that was continually in disrepair with the former owner never replacing it. The masterbedroom walls were wet and cracked from the leaking roof. The airconditioning was non-functioning upstairs and the trees in front of the house had rotted all of the dormers in front of the home. The chimneys mortar was crumbling and cracking, the electrical wiring a safety hazard.
I fixed all of these things that helped to preserve the house. It is interesting no one talks about the state fund's that were originally used to renovate the house nor the outrage some citizens of Kentucky had over the Brown's not reimburse the state for renovations that they directly benefited by.
PRESS RELEASE
Cave Hill, Despite Sale, still in Legal Scuffle
For Immediate Release
July 28, 2009
Palm Beach, Florida
Bruce Fein and Mattie Fein, who were involved in the purchase and recent litigation over the famed Kentucky Mansion popularly known as Cave Hill, have filed an appeal in the Kentucky Court of Appeals of a dubious Kentucky trial court decision that added further blurriness to an already seriously clouded title to the property. Mattie Fein elaborated that the new buyers, Logan, had impaired the collateral to a loan central to the litigation when it defaulted on its obligation to exercise due care in by failing to prepare a deed of trust and title indispensable to making the historic residence marketable.
Ms. Fein, whose family's trust originally purchased the property, maintains that the trial judge’s decision to rush the sale of Cave Hill and deny her bona fide purchaser an additional few weeks to consummate the sale on market terms stemmed from conspicuous bias against her husband's more political and conservative views. "There has not been one ruling that has not been laced with a bias from the start. We have been subjected to horrendous comments and innuendoes by Judge Ernesto Scorsone entirely irrelevant to the matter before him and which represented an egregious abuse of the judicial office for the specific purpose of damaging our reputation and holding us up to ridicule.”
The Feins expect to file a defamation suit against Judge Scorsone imminently in Palm Beach County.
In a letter to Logan Asset Backed Fund, dated July 28,2009, the Fein's trusts have demanded $2.2 million from Logan for the intentional or negligent impairment of collateral. The letter also seeks damages for Logan's bad faith in negotiating with prospective purchasers of Cave Hill. Ms. Fein speculates that Logan’s Cave Hill maneuvers were partially due to Logan's sister debacle in which they are being sued in a case filed by the Paducah Convention Center in Paducah, Kentucky involving an executive inn.
Ms. Fein is available for comment.
Contact: Derek Richardson at 202-361-7311.
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