NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — A mansion that was once the Newport summer home of the Astor family and in recent years has served as a museum has been sold to a group with ties to software mogul Larry Ellison, whom Forbes lists as the world's fourth-richest person.
Robert Milligan, who had owned Astors' Beechwood Mansion with a partnership since 1981, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the $10.5 million sale closed Wednesday. Milligan said he signed a confidentiality agreement that bars him from saying much about the deal, but he said it was sold to a group called Eastern Estates.
The manager of Eastern Estates is Philip B. Simon, who is also president of a private equity investment firm controlled by Ellison, the founder of Oracle Corp.
Simon did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Eastern Estates' lawyer, Patrick Hayes, had no comment on the sale.
The Gilded Age mansion is located on Newport's famed Bellevue Avenue, home to other spectacular homes including The Breakers. Collectively, the mansions are Rhode Island's most popular tourist attraction and among the top attractions in New England.
Beechwood, the 39-room Italianate mansion built in 1851 and expensively renovated after the Astor family bought it in 1881, has been billed as the place "where American society began."
It has been open to the public since 1981, Milligan said. It has hosted weddings and other public events. The 5-acre property overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, and the Cliff Walk runs alongside it.
Milligan said he did not know whether the new buyers would close the property to the public, though he said they had a particular interest in 19th-century history and in the building's museum status.
"There are very few properties here in Newport that have the provenance that Beechwood has, the location on Bellevue Avenue, and are on the Atlantic Ocean and are designated as museums. The combination of those was attractive to the buyers," he said.
Milligan said he has a lease on the property through Aug. 5. Weddings are scheduled there through July, but it will otherwise be closed to the public during that period, he said.
Ellison is an avid yachter. His team, BMW Oracle Racing, is scheduled to compete in the America's Cup next month.
Newport played host to the America's Cup, sailing's top event, for many years until the 1980s.
