Sunday 19 December 1999

Blaze razes Mariah's ex-digs

A fire that raged in a swanky Westchester County enclave yesterday consumed a stunning hilltop mansion that was the former home of Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola. The blaze destroyed the $20 million home in Bedford Hills purchased from Mottola last year by Nelson Peltz, the multimillionaire owner of Triarc Cos., the parent of Snapple, RC Cola and Arby's.

"The entire building was burned to the ground," said Assistant Chief George Graniero of the Bedford Hills Fire Department, one of four departments that battled the blaze. "The flames were visible from miles and miles away."

No one was injured in the 1:30a.m. fire. Neither Peltz nor any of his family was in the home, which was undergoing renovations, authorities said. Firefighters, who had to stretch fire hoses from the hydrant on the closest street along a 2,500-foot driveway, had no chance to extinguish the blaze, Graniero said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The posh area in the rolling hills of northern Westchester is dotted with estates and is home to a number of celebrities, including Christopher Reeve, Michael Crichton, Glenn Close, Ralph Lauren, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Chevy Chase.

Peltz, 56, the Brooklyn-born ex-protege of junk bond trader Michael Milken, made his fortune in leveraged buyouts and also has a home in Palm Beach, Fla. He is divorced and remarried and has eight children.

Pop diva Carey and Sony music chief Mottola, who started building the house in 1994, moved out of the mansion after their breakup. The spread boasted 14 baths, seven fireplaces, two pizza ovens, indoor and outdoor pools, a skating rink and horseback-riding trails.

Peltz owned a less lavish house next door described as a "stone chateau." He bought the Mottola property to create a 100-acre estate. The purchase price was nearly twice that of any previous residential sale in the county, according to the state.

A recent visitor to the mansion likened it to a small hotel. "When you go in the front door there was an enormous entry hall with a sweeping double staircase, like Tara," the visitor said. "It's the biggest house I've ever seen in my life." Key features included a crystal ballroom, used for parties, and an enormous central hallway. "The scope of this house is so tremendous, it just never ended," the visitor said.

Peltz was known for being extremely security conscious and visitors had to go through several checkpoints. Security guards on the scene reported the blaze. Peltz, whose worth was pegged earlier this year at $790 million, has been squabbling with his neighbors and the town of Bedford over his habit of commuting to Manhattan by helicopter from the landing pad he built next to the mansion. Neighbors involved in the protest included actor E.G. Marshall. One neighbor was charged with felony reckless endangerment for shining a flashlight into Peltz's low-flying blue-and-white six-seat copter.

(New York Daily News)



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