Inside the Hamptons’ Most Expensive Home: $425 Million 110,000-Square-Foot Estate Is Owned by Billionaire Tied Up in Lead Poisoning Scandal

The Hamptons have become a mecca for pricey properties over the years, serving as a perfect beachy retreat for wealthy New Yorkers who want to enjoy a break from city living—and seek refuge in the area’s many expansive megamansions.

The popular Long Island enclave boasts dozens of lavish homes, but there is one estate in Sagaponack that eclipses every other property in the region: a $425 million manor owned by a billionaire businessman whose dealings have recently seen him—and his expansive property—thrust back into the headlines.

Ira Rennert, 90, the founder of New York-based Renco Group, a family holding company, bought his beachside home in the 1990s.

At the time, the property was a world away from the sprawling estate that now sits there, having been dramatically expanded under Rennert’s ownership.

Today, “the house that ate the Hamptons” spans a staggering 110,000 square feet, boasting 29 bedrooms, 39 bathrooms, and an incredible number of amenities that one might find at a shopping mall or hotel.

Instead of just one swimming pool, Rennert’s home has several, in addition to a basketball court, a bowling alley, two tennis courts, a synagogue, and a movie theater that can seat 164 people.

Then, of course, there’s the 100-car garage, which no doubt comes in handy when throwing blowout parties.

The European-style estate is located in one of the Hamptons’ most exclusive, upscale areas and hugs the Atlantic coastline.

Legal issues

However, it’s not all smooth sailing out on Long Island. Although Rennert seems to live under the radar, he has recently found himself thrown into the spotlight as a result of a decades-long lawsuit over lead poisoning in a Peruvian mine, which he has been trying to fight since the early 2000s.

The lawsuit was filed in 2007 by nuns from The Saint Louis College for Public Health and Social Justice on behalf of a group of children from La Oroya, Peru, against Doe Run Resources Corp., a subsidiary of Renco.

It claims that Doe Run failed to reduce lead emissions in the mine in order to meet regulations set as part of an agreement between Renco and the Peruvian government.

Renco bought the La Oroya smelter and copper mine in 1997 from a Peruvian state-controlled company. Renco agreed to reduce emissions at the plant within 10 years but struggled to do so, even though the company invested in improvements to the plant and surrounding infrastructure.

Having been made aware of the conditions in and around the mine—and the potential risk posed to the children working in it—the nuns enlisted researchers to visit the plant and test the children for lead exposure.

What researchers found was startling: 99% of the children in La Oroya had dangerous levels of lead in their blood. Lead exposure in children causes a host of adverse health effects, including brain and nervous system damage and behavioral issues.

The nuns’ suit alleges that many of the children who worked in the mine suffered serious health issues as a result of lead poisoning.

Ongoing issues

Lawyer Jerry Schlichter, who has been working on the La Oroya case for the past 17 years, told the New York Post that if Rennert and Renco are found guilty, they may have to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.”

That figure could go over $1 billion, as another case on behalf of 1,000 Peruvians was in its early days, Schlichter noted.

A spokesperson for Renco has denied any wrongdoing.

Renco, however, is no stranger to legal issues. In 2015, Rennert paid $118 million to the creditors of Magnesium Corp. of America, aka MagCorp. A lawsuit alleged he forced the company into bankruptcy to help pay for his palatial Sagaponack home in the ’90s.