Boom to Bust: Socialite Loses Home To Foreclosure

The ex-wife of the late billionaire John Kluge has lost her lavish Virginia home to foreclosure.

Albemarle House is located on 300 acres of land next to Monticello, in Charlottesville, Va. The $25 million estate has eight bedrooms and 13 baths. The property includes a pool, pool house, log cabin and cottages.

Patricia Kluge acquired the home as part of her 1990 divorce settlement from her billionaire husband, who died in September. She was also awarded $1.6 million per week in alimony.

Bank of America filed a lawsuit in January, alleging that Kluge recently defaulted on three loan payments on the Albemarle County estate. The filing in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville stipulates the payments amount to almost $23 million.

The property was sold during an auction on the courthouse steps in Charlottesville Wednesday. Bank of American outbid Donald Trump for the property, buying it for $15.3 million.

This isn't the first auction connected to the Kluge estate. Last summer, Sotheby's Auction House sold jewelry and furniture from the estate, collecting more than $15 million. Kluge also lost her winery at auction in December 2010 after efforts to take its wines to national and international markets fell. The winery sold for a reported $19 million.

Kluge's current husband, William Moses, said the harsh economic downturn in 2008 was the cause of the couple's financial problems, hitting them on every front.

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