Rita Ludovisi: Texas model turned princess to be evicted from world's most expensive Roman villa worth $533M
PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES: 73-year-old Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi, a Texas-born princess, is being evicted from her $533 million villa in Rome, amid an inheritance battle with her stepchildren, as she failed to maintain the property. Ludovisi inherited the villa after marrying Prince Nicolo von Boncompagni Ludovisi in 2009 and was solidified as its legatee in his will.
A Roman judge ordered in January 2023 that Ludovisi must vacate the home by April 20, reports New York Post. And police are ordered to take possession of the property, change the locks and “dispose of or destroy” any furniture or documents left behind. While the stepchildren argued that the villa, built in 1570, belongs to them, as their grandfather wanted them to inherit it but their late father transferred it to her. Following this, they filed a multi-pronged legal campaign to get control of the property so it can be sold. Ludovisi and her step-sons have been in a five-year dispute over the villa.
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Commenting on the eviction, she said her eviction is "unexpected and unjust." And added, "'What a brutal ending to my beautiful life with my beloved Nicolo," as per DailyMail. She previously said she would “vigorously defend” her lifelong right to stay in the villa, New York Post reported.
Who is Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi?
Born as Rita Carpenter, Ludovisi worked in television and real estate in New York, according to a 2021 report by Forbes. The outlet stated, "Her biggest deal came when she helped broker Donald Trump’s $800 million purchase of the General Motors building in 1998. Decades before his days in the White House, Trump made an impression on her when he told her, unprompted, that he was a billionaire." She said at that time, “No one has ever said to me, ‘I'm worth $3.5 billion,’ and I've been around a lot of wealthy people. So it kind of took me back. It was a surprise.”
Before marrying the Prince, Ludovisi's first husband was former United States Democratic Representative John Jenrette Jr of South Carolina, whom she married in 1976. However, they parted ways and took divorced in 1981, states DailyMail. She also appeared in two issues of Playboy Magazine and in one of the issues she told the magazine that she and her first husband had sex on the Capital steps during a break in an all-night House session. But later, in 2017, during an interview on 'CBS Sunday Morning', stated it was simply a "kiss," and "we did not make love on the Capitol steps." Talking more about it, she said, "It was a passionate moment. But it was not — we did not make love on the Capitol steps. We did not!"
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The 9,000-square-foot property, located in central Rome, was built in 1570 and had belonged to the Ludovisi family since the early 1600s, according to Independent, which also states the villa was built on the Julius Caesar’s ancient gardens and features artworks by renowned Italian artists, such as Guercino and Caravaggio’s Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. It's the world's most expensive house, as per DailyMail, but the price has been lowered to $353 million since the minimum bid failed to get any buyers in the first auction.