Man returns to land he bought in 1991 for home to find a $1.5m house already on it
- A man is taking legal action after a $1.5 million house was built on land he owned
- “I own that and I never sold it,” he said
- The half-acre strip was bought in 1991 close to the site of his childhood home
Published on Mar 11, 2024 at 1:00 AM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Mar 28, 2024 at 12:42 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Adam Gray
Picture the scene – you are buying a plot of land with the dream of building your forever home, but you return to find a $1.5 million house built on it.
This is what actually happened to the vacant lot bought by Dr Daniel Kenigsberg.
The doctor, who specializes in endocrinology, is taking the owner of the ‘cuckoo’ house to court.
READ MORE! Real estate agent reveals staggering commission she makes on Bugatti penthouse
The home ended his long-term hopes of owning a house next door to his childhood home.
Situated in New Haven, Connecticut, Dr Kenigsberg bought the half-acre strip at 51 Sky Top Terrace back in 1991.
His father bought the home nearby for just $5,000 in 1953 – so it had sentimental significance.
His family even bought the lot directly from Eleazar Parmly Jr. – the family that settled the area in 1716.
While a lot of the time, it’s a drop in the ocean to Jeff Bezos, who spent a staggering amount on his neighboring estates.
Dr Kenigsberg raised his family in Long Island, after medical school in New York and a residency in Maryland, per Greenwichtime.
Despite leaving the lot vacant for several decades, Dr Kenigsberg never let go of his dream of one day moving back to the area.
“Certainly if one of my children wanted to live in Fairfield, Connecticut, I’d be very happy about that,” Kenigsberg said.
However, on May 31 of this year, he received a call that would shatter that dream.
A friend informed him that a $1.5 million house had cropped up on the vacant land.
Recalling the conversation, he told CT Insider: “I said: ‘I own that and I never sold it’. I was shocked.”
He visited the site and saw an almost-completed four-bedroom house that was valued at $1.45 million to be precise.
Want to see some more new builds? These Bugatti-designed apartments and this record-breaking penthouse should scratch that itch.
Back to Connecticut and, according to its listing, the home was under offer in March.
Official records state that the land was sold to 51 Sky Top Partners LLC for $350,000 in October 2022.
However, Kenigsberg claims he knows nothing about the sale.
He is taking legal action and suing the firm on nine counts.
These cover charges of trespass, statutory theft and unfair trade practices, as well as an additional $2 million in damages.
He hopes the lawsuit will void the sale of the land.
He is demanding that the company involved removes “any structures and/or materials from the Property and restore the Property to the condition that it was in prior to Defendants’ trespass upon it”.
“I’m angry that so many people were so negligent that this could have happened. It’s more than obnoxious – it’s offensive and wrong,” Kenigsberg said.
The same publication was informed by Fairfield Police lieutenant, Michael Paris, that a criminal probe is underway.
It hopes to discover who received funds from the sale.
It’s been alleged that the power of attorney was granted by Anthony Monelli of Trumbull, Connecticut.
Reports suggest 51 Sky Top Partners have also claimed to be victims of a scam.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
