Accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein‘s New York City mansion has undergone an extensive renovation—four years after it was purchased by a former Goldman Sachs executive who vowed to completely make over the dwelling “physically and spiritually.”
According to the New York Post, the Upper East Side property’s owner, Michael Daffey, has completed a million-dollar remodel of the seven-story townhouse, with images obtained by Realtor.com® suggesting that he has already begun hosting events inside the historic abode.
Photos taken outside the home on Oct. 18 show several workers removing what appear to be boxes of staging equipment from the dwelling, indicating that a large-scale event had been held there the previous night.
It is unclear whether the event was hosted by Daffey, who purchased the townhouse for the bargain price of $51 million back in March 2021, two years after Epstein died by suicide inside a New York City detention center, where he was awaiting trial, having been charged with multiple counts of sex trafficking.
When Daffey purchased the home—which had originally been listed for $88 million—his spokesperson said that the former financier planned to carry out a “complete makeover,” which city records indicate cost a total of $925,000, per the Post.
However, while he may have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to remove all evidence of Epstein, the dwelling’s sordid history appears inescapable, having once again been thrust into the headlines amid the publication of late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre‘s posthumous memoir, “Nobody’s Girl.”
In the book, which was published Oct. 21, Giuffre made several horrifying allegations about the torture she claimed she was subjected to inside the home, which is now understood to be worth upward of $66 million.
Giuffre, who died by suicide on April 25, accused both Epstein and his madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, of subjecting her to sadomasochistic abuse inside a massage room in the home, which she referred to as “The Dungeon,” alleging that she was chained up and beaten until she “prayed [she] would black out.”
She also described some of the more sinister design details in the home, including a “blood red carpets” and a taxidermy tiger, as well as a “hidden black staircase” that was adorned with “carved eyeballs that stared at you as you gripped them.”
“The message was clear: ‘We’re always watching you,'” she wrote.
Additionally, she claimed that the property had been outfitted with an intricate camera system that spread to almost every single room of the home.
Speaking to the Post, several neighbors and fellow Upper East Side residents expressed their horror at the idea of ever living inside a home with such a horrifying history, with one, Henry Francois, describing the dwelling as a “dark, dark, weird place.”
“Would I live inside? No, I don’t think so,” he added. “Not that I believe in ghosts, it’s just terrible. It’s like when you walk around at night and have a weird feeling. You constantly feel on edge.”
Still, Daffey appears to have done his utmost to completely eradicate all evidence of Epstein inside the townhouse, which was originally constructed in 1910 and is located just a few minutes’ walk from Central Park.
The outlet reports that renovations have been carried out across five of the home’s seven stories, including the demolition of multiple walls in order to open up each of the floors.
The so-called “dungeon” that Giuffre refers to appears to have been one of the rooms that had its walls torn down in order to add more space to an existing bedroom.
Epstein’s kitchen has also been enlarged by knocking through into his former office, as well as a breakfast room and bathroom.
All of Epstein’s chosen light fixtures, wallpapers, and other design details—including crown molding and built-ins—have also been stripped from the property.
Realtor.com images show that the façade of the home remains much the same as it did when the disgraced financier lived there, save for a small brass “J.E.” that has been removed from the exterior.
When Daffey purchased the property, it was the most expensive sale in Manhattan of 2021, with luxury real estate broker Donna Olshan telling Realtor.com at the time that the price was “very reasonable” for a townhouse of that size in such a prime location.
“It’s very reasonable for one of the most prime locations and private residences in New York City,” she said. “It sounds crazy because the numbers are so big. … [But] the buyer got a very good deal.”
She added that the Epstein connection may not have impacted the sale, noting that many buyers who are able to afford such pricey properties often known that they will also be able to afford to gut it from the ground up.
“Buyers for this kind of property are going to put their stamp on it,” she said. “They’re going to make it their headquarters or home, and all traces of Jeffrey Epstein and his notorious behavior will [be] eradicated.”
The townhouse was originally commissioned by Macy’s department store heir Herbert N. Straus on one of Manhattan’s most prestigious blocks and construction was finally completed in the early 1900s.
In the mid-1940s, the home became an extension of the St. Claire Hospital, before being transformed into the Birch Wathen School two decades later.
Epstein is believed that have purchased the property in 1989 for $13.2 million.
In addition to the New York City dwelling, the late financier also owned an extraordinary property in Palm Beach, FL, which was demolished in 2020 by developer Todd Glaser, who paid $19 million for the mansion in March of that year.
He then sold the vacant lot to venture capitalist David Skok for $25.8 million in 2022.
