THE $1.1 million mansion where ‘King Richard’ trained his legendary daughters Serena and Venus Williams during their teenage years is now a crumbling ruin as he’s set to lose the home in weeks.
Richard Williams, who was the subject of the movie King Richard, bought the 10-acre Florida property in 1995, and photos exclusively snapped by the US Sun shows the worn-down exterior of the four-bedroom mansion’s exterior just weeks before it’s set to go up for auction.
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The wood sidings appear frayed and rotted through, the white pillars along lined up outside the front door are discolored and the home is surrounded by overgrown dead crabgrass and shrubbery.
Aerial views on GoogleMaps show two tennis courts in the back yard of the dead-end street.
Richard lost the property in the 2017 divorce from his third wife Lakeisha Williams and his name was removed from the home, but his presence wasn’t completely erased.
The property was refinanced three times in the last four years, and thousands of dollars of skipped payments forced the home to go into foreclosure and is scheduled to be auctioned off at the end of February.
A notice of sale was delivered to the owner last summer, according to property records.
From a distance, the home appears run down, and the property is largely unkempt.
At least one car can be seen from a distance, but no one lives inside.
MIXED REVIEWS
Richard Williams, who is portrayed by Will Smith in the Hollywood movie, was shown as a loving father and hard-nosed tennis coach that pushed his talented daughters to greatness.
But his ex-wife, who currently owns the West Palm Beach property, and the Williams sisters’ half sister have publicly ripped the 79-year-old former tennis coach.
Lakeisha claimed Richard used to drive through poor neighborhoods looking at women during their messy divorce.
The couple share a young son, Dylan, but are not on good terms amid bombshell accusations made in court – including his claim that Lakeisha forged his signature to transfer their West Palm Beach property into her name.
Lakeisha admitted imitating his writing, but said in court documents he asked her to do everything for him due to ill health, and the deeds and mortgage were all notarized and witnessed at a loan company.
Asked why she didn’t use somewhere close to home, she said in her 2019 deposition testimony he likes to go on long drives, and he told her what turns to make during the journey.
Lakeisha said: “He did likes to drive, you know, and not stating anything. He likes to go through poor neighborhoods.
“He likes to take me like Downtown Los Angeles. He always liked to take me to neighborhoods where, you know, there was Black women, because he likes women. Yes, so to speak.”
Venus and Serena’s half sister Sabrina Williams – told The Sun during a previous exclusive interview that their father was “only a king in his head.”
He dumped his wife and five kids, allegedly walking out of the door to buy her a bike – and never returning – then went onto marry Serena and Venus’s mother Oracene.
Sabrina told The Sun, “I think the title is completely over the top.
“He thinks he’s the king of the world, but no one that’s ever been around him thinks he’s King Richard. It is an outrageous title, but to truth be told, it fits him.
“He’s not the king of the world. If you look at him psychologically, it’s something he’s never achieved apart from in his head – he’s lived only through two of his daughters forsaking all his other children.
“Truth be told, those girls rose to the top while his other children had to suffer because of the choices my dad made, we were raised in poverty after he left.
“He choose tennis for them, as he knew it could also make him a millionaire.”
DECLINING HEALTH
Richard married Sabrina’s late mom Betty Johnson in Los Angeles in the early sixties and they had four other children – Richard III, 56, Ronner, 55, Reluss, 54, and 49-year-old Reneeka.
In Williams’ second marriage to Oracene Price in 1980, the pair had Venus and Serena.
Amid marrying, they moved to Compton, California.
However, Price and Williams divorced in 2002.
Meanwhile, Richard’s doctor, Monica Walker, wrote a letter explaining her assessment of his health and his son Chavoita LeSane was handed power of attorney amid his declining health.
Dr Walker stated: “As you are well aware, you suffered damage to your brain tissue during a stroke. The complications after the stroke included inability to remember things which happened recently and incidents that happened years ago.
“You will remember, immediately after the stroke, your muscles weakened and slowly you were able to regain strength. You also have problems speaking and finding the right word to use.
“You have recovered from problems forming your words. However, you have not recovered from what is called dementia.
“Your ability to do household business transactions such as writing checks, paying bills, and maintaining records is lost. You still at times find it difficult to use the right words.
“This is all part of cerebral vascular disease and stroke.
“When I spoke with you concerning legal matters and your level of judgement during any household or business transactions, you stated you were unable to do any tasks relating to business.
“You stated your wife handled all the household business because you get confused easily.
“Your mental state since the first stroke includes loss of recent and remote memory and increased confusion during times of increased demands for concentration.”
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