Photo Courtesy Of Venus Williams/ Instagram
Richard Williams’ deteriorating West Palm Beach home, where he famously trained his daughters, tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, went up for auction after he lost it in his divorce from his ex-wife.
The $1.1 million 10-acre, four-bedroom Florida mansion went up for auction on Feb. 18, as per a foreclosure agreement finalized following his divorce from Lakeisha Williams in 2017. It was initially set to be up for auction on Monday, Feb. 14, but the County Clerk’s office changed the date to the following Friday.
The famed tennis coach initially filed for divorce from Lakeisha, claiming that she stole his social security checks and forged his signature to transfer ownership of their house and vehicles to herself, among other things.
The property was reportedly neglected by the 42-year-old woman, who stopped making payments on it and owed over $50,000. Its crumbling appearance was extremely noticeable in photos taken exclusively by The Sun a few weeks before the auction. According to the outlet, wood sidings on the house were frayed and rotted, and its white pillars were discolored. They added that it was surrounded by shrubs and dead grass.
Richard purchased the home, located at 12167 144th Place N., for just $355,000 in 1995. He even added a tennis court to it, where his daughters practiced for hours after he pulled them from Rick Macci Academy and Tennis Center. At the time, they were the tender ages of 13 and 14 years old.
Unfortunately, the iconic mansion where Venus and Serena honed their skills faced an unsavory fate, as it was refinanced three times over the past four years and was forced into foreclosure. However, the house could attract many bidders not only because they lived there with their father, but also due to the rising demand for South Florida real estate.
The home was part of the movie King Richard, an Oscar-nominated biopic about Richard’s life, starring Will Smith, which debuted in theaters on Nov. 19, 2021. It followed him and his daughters, portrayed by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, on their journey to their successful tennis careers.
“I wrote a 78-page plan for their whole career before they were even born,” he said in the film’s trailer.
Richard turned 80 on Valentine’s Day. He and Lakeisha had a nine-year-old son named Dylan Starr Williams in August 2012.