A palatial South Florida oceanfront mansion features gold on the front gates, the circular banister, the handrails, the entry doors, the crown molding and kitchen cabinets. But in many places, it's paint _ not real gold leaf, the owner claims in a lawsuit.
The gilding work on Le Palais Royal was "haphazardly and deceivingly done in certain areas with imitation gold-colored paint rather than leafing with actual gold content," the suit against the contractor alleges. The gilding was supposed to have at a minimum 22-karat gold leafing, owner Robert Pereira's suit says.
The company has filed a suit of its own, saying Pereira hasn't paid $556,000 still owed for the faux marble paint job it did on columns and pilasters at the Hillsboro Beach estate _ under construction for eight years _ that was valued at $85 million by the Broward County property appraiser in May.
While there are some South Florida homes that have a higher value because of the land they sit on, none come close to the value of the building itself.
It has 11 bedrooms, 15 full bathrooms, four half-baths, an IMAX theater, a $4 million infinity pool, a $2 million grand staircase and an air-conditioned parking garage for up to 10 cars.
Pereira's suit in Broward Circuit Court says he paid New York-based Atelier Premiere Inc. more than $10 million for the gilding work, the faux marble treatment of the exterior columns and other work on the mansion.
Besides the spots missing the gold leafing, the suit says the contractors did not consistently apply varnish that was "needed to preserve the ultimate luster and maintain the gold leafing itself."
Previous advertisements for the property, which at one time was on the market for $159 million, claimed it contained more than $3 million in gold leafing.
As for the faux marble columns, the suit says the crews "did not perform the intricate painting techniques" required. The painting services on the exterior columns and pilasters cost about $1.5 million alone, the suit said.
The painted columns and the gold leafing are already beginning to peel on the brand-new home because of the workmanship, the suits says, while paint spills were cleaned up with some "type of acid solution" that "caused more damage by eating into the marble-tiled flooring."
Atelier's suit, filed in New York state court, says it did the work requested, made changes that Pereira wanted and got stiffed on the final payments it was owed.
The suit says it has been engaged "in a grand construction and renovation project" on the property since 2005, "sparing no expense to design, construct and decorate a palatial estate." It says the relationship went along well until Pereira did not make the final payments owed in mid-2017.
Atelier says it did the work as agreed to, and made later changes as requested by Pereira, but still did not get paid. It said the modifications it made were due "purely to Pereira Sr.'s subjective preferences."
The suit says Atelier "fully, properly, and timely performed all its specified painting and finishing obligations."
Attempts to reach attorneys and Pereira were not successful Wednesday morning.
