Seychelles Diplomat’s opulent house in the US returns for sale

STILL UNSANSWERED QUESTIONS

The former Westchester home of Seychelles diplomat Justin Etzin and his then-wife, former Latvian model and Maxim cover girl Lana Zakocela, is back on the market for $3.37 million.

That’s down from its former ask of $6.75 million, but higher than the minimum bid when it was up for auction last year for $2.5 million. There are still questions to be answered as to how and why the Seychelles government bought the estate for Etzin, the son of late hotelier Bernard Etzin, and Zakocela back in 2016 —following their “Eyes Wide Shut”-themed wedding in Florence.

The estate, at 1503 Old Orchard St. in North Castle, sits on 7.9 acres and includes a lake surrounded by a stone quarry.

There are also guest cottages and stables. The ground has also been dug for a 60-foot infinity pool overlooking a granite cliff above the lake. It’s all surrounded by 490 acres of protected conservation land.

The property was originally part of a 43-acre estate owned by the Straus family, which formerly owned Macy’s department stores and, later, by a member of the Hearst publishing family. (Brothers Isidor and Nathan Straus co-owned Macy’s until Isidor’s death on the Titanic in 1912.) The listing broker is Angela Kessel of Houlihan Lawrence.

“The property’s legacy of ownership is unlike anything I’ve seen before —a retail titan, a publishing powerhouse and a foreign government, all of whom surely cherished its seclusion and beauty, forever protected by conservation land. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Kessel says.

Source: nypost.com