Pablo Picasso’s French Riviera Mansion Has a New Owner

New Zealand financier Rayo Withanage is the new owner of Pablo Picasso’s mansion on the French Riviera, after no new bidders bested his €20.10 million (US$24 million) offer on Thursday.

The Spanish artist lived and worked in the traditional Provencal bastide in Mougins, close to Cannes, from 1961 until his death in 1973 at the age of 91, according to auction materials.

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Picasso gradually extended the property—known as Mas de Notre Dame de Vie—over the years and added a large studio. Following his death, his wife, Jacqueline Roque, remained in the house until her death in 1986. She had left everything in the house as it was, even his reading glasses were where Picasso had left them, said the listing.

The home’s most recent owners embarked on a sizable restoration and the main house now spans over 13,000 square feet and sits on eight acres of land. It has a tennis court, a swimming pool, a pool house, a gym, a spa, a guest house, a caretakers cottage and the gardens were reportedly restored to Picasso’s original design.

In June, the property sold at auction for €18.775 million (US$22.21 million), said broker Hans Veenhuijsen of Residence365 who handled the sale.

But according to French law, Mr. Veenhuijsen said, anyone can make another bid within 14 days of the initial auction in a process known as "surenchere." The bid must be at least 10% higher that the highest bid in the first auction and bidders must also hand over a 10% guarantee to the local court.

That’s what happened in this case, when, within 14 days there was a higher bid of €21.10 million and a valid 10% bank guarantee from Mr. Withanage.

When this happens, the court is obligated to have a second and final auction to give others the opportunity to, again, bid on the property. But this time, interested parties must have given a 10% guarantee prior to placing bids, Mr. Veenhuijsen said.

"The second and final auction was [Thursday], and there were no higher bidders than the highest bid after the first auction (surenchere) made by Mr. Rayo Withanage," Mr. Veenhuijsen told Mansion Global via email.

Now the property is considered officially sold and Mr. Withanage, who could not be reached for comment, has two months to pay the remaining 90% of the sale.

Other reports suggest that Thursday’s auction was a result of Mr. Withanage not having the funds to complete the transaction. Mansion Global could not verify this.

"Of course we had hoped for a higher bid," Mr. Veenhuijsen said. "However €20.10 million in auction is not a bad result."