I arrived at Libbie Mugrabi’s Hamptons home in an ordinary Honda CR-V, leaving it parked on the road beyond the gates. In the driveway sat her $400,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom.
The six-bedroom Bridgehampton property sits at the end of a lengthy drive on roughly seven wooded acres, surrounded by multimillion-dollar residences. Mugrabi received the estate as part of her 2020 divorce settlement with billionaire art collector David Mugrabi.
But following a foreclosure auction last month, the Manhattan socialite was preparing to leave the house behind.
When I arrived shortly after midday last Thursday, the 46-year-old was outside placing possessions into a storage container. She was wearing a short red pajama set.
Mugrabi is being required to vacate the home she once shared with David and their two children after the property was sold at auction amid missed mortgage payments.
She has approximately one month to clear out before facing the possibility of eviction.
After spending time outdoors, taking in the expansive grounds and the sound of birds, Libbie invited me through the front door.
Over champagne, we toured the residence and discussed everything from our shared Jewish background to art and fashion, as well as the deeply contentious end of her marriage to David.
In a short red pajama set, Libbie Mugrabi makes the most of her remaining time at her Hamptons mansion
My modest Honda CR-V stood beside her $400,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom
Her office offered perhaps the strongest indication of what Mugrabi hopes to pursue next: a future in fashion.
A canvas covered in pink graffiti displayed the name of her L’Scher label, while clothing, books, documents and merchandise crowded the space.
She presented several recent creations, including a hat marked with the word “DEFY.”
Another design prompted laughter: it featured “C**tessa,” a deliberately vulgar twist on the word Contessa.
She later swapped her sleepwear for a white feather-trimmed jacket from her own collection and posed for photographs.
The rest of the home reflected her passion for contemporary art, including a Damien Hirst piece of undisclosed value displayed in the stark white living room.
In the primary bedroom, designer clothing, footwear, jewelry and handbags overflowed from the huge walk-in closet.
Mugrabi showed me the bikinis she was setting aside for her move to Florida, saying she viewed the relocation as a chance to start over.
“I’m genuinely happy and excited to go. I never want to return to New York. To me, it’s the dirtiest and most corrupt place,” she said.
“The news is all fake … and the people are disgusting. It’s anti-Semitic too.”
But despite insisting she was ready to leave, Mugrabi was clearly incensed about the way she had lost her home and the divorce that preceded it.
Designer clothes, shoes, jewels and handbags spilled out of her enormous walk-in closet
Her L’Scher brand was splashed across a canvas in pink graffiti in her office
Her split from Mugrabi, which began in 2018 and was settled in 2020, became one of New York’s most spectacular society battles, with their fortune and vast art collection at the center of the fight.
Mugrabi has previously described the moment she discovered David with another woman in this very home as the final straw in their marriage.
She told me the same story, saying she had gone upstairs to bed during a July 4 weekend party in 2018 before discovering David downstairs naked with another woman the following morning.
The precise terms of the divorce settlement were never made public, although reports said she had sought $100 million.
‘I was entitled to half of a billion in the divorce,’ Libbie fumed, the conversation growing more heated.
‘I settled for just a few paintings, this house and some monthly money.’
The Bridgehampton mansion, valued at the time at around $18 million, was one of the major assets she received in her divorce from David.
But it is now at the center of another legal battle.
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Libbie took out a $3.5 million loan secured against the property but later admitted she stopped paying it back in October 2024, allowing ownership to cede to the lender.
Movers pack up the sprawling six-bedroom Bridgehampton estate
The house was sold at a fraction of the asking price after it went on sale at a public auction
A subsequent arrangement gave Libbie an opportunity to sell the house herself, which she listed for $25 million, later cutting the asking price to $19 million.
When she failed to find a buyer before the deadline, the property was put up for sale at a public foreclosure auction.
Libbie described the auction as ‘bogus’ and said she believed her house had effectively been ‘stolen’ from her.
‘Normally, when you have an auction you have to advertise it [properly] to the public but it was never advertised,’ she said.
‘The auction was rigged, unfair and unjust and my deed was taken.’
Taking occasional hits from her vape, Libbie described the series of ‘humiliating’ events that led to her home being sold for a mere $5.86m.
The auction itself was ‘out of control,’ with locals crowding into Town Hall to watch the drama unfold.
Libbie’s mother, Jane Scher, was among those in attendance, accompanied by her dog, Botox.
At one point, she turned to the lender’s attorney, Ryan Mitola of Vallely Mitola Ryan, and reportedly told him: ‘Your client is a d**k.’
The home has been hers since her 2020 divorce settlement from billionaire art collector David Mugrabi
Libbie’s sister, Mia Rowe, meanwhile, appeared determined to save the house, repeatedly raising her bid as she was outbid by others.
At one point, her $7.8 million bid was accepted, seemingly putting the property back within the family’s grasp.
She held up the auction as she ran to the bank to get the certified check she needed.
But when the bank couldn’t provide it, the property went to the next bidder, Henry Ikezi, an investor and Queens politician.
The drama did not end there.
Police were called and Jane was eventually escorted from the auction with Botox, after an angry confrontation in which she was described as a ‘lunatic.’
Dan Russo, the attorney who acted as referee for the auction, later told the Daily Mail that the proceeding was ‘out of control.’
Under the auction terms, Ikezi has up to 45 days to complete the purchase, according to the Post.
When I left her home at around 8pm, Libbie had given the impression she was ready for a new chapter
But when the Daily Mail returned to the property a few days later to photograph her before she left, the mood had changed and she refused to come out
Soon, the house that had been at the center of Libbie’s marriage, divorce and years of legal battles will belong to someone else
If the transaction is completed and Mugrabi refuses to leave, he can seek to have her evicted from the property by police.
When I left her home at around 8pm, Libbie had given the impression she was ready for a new chapter.
But when the Daily Mail returned to the property a few days later to photograph her before she left, the mood had changed.
She had initially agreed to meet the photographer at the house, but changed her mind at the last minute and remained inside.
Outside, a handful of movers continued loading her belongings into a storage pod as the once-bustling estate fell quiet.
Soon, the house that had been at the center of Libbie’s marriage, divorce and years of legal battles will belong to someone else.