Bin Laden Mansion

City/Town: • Oakland

Location Class: • Residential

Built: • 1928 | Abandoned: • 2012

Status: • Demolished

Photojournalist: • David Bulit • Nomeus

Table of Contents

Pratt House

This home in Oakland, Florida, was commonly referred to as the Bin Laden Mansion due to its ties to Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the founder of the Pan-Islamic militant organization Al-Qaeda. Situated along the shores of Johns Lake, the sizeable gated estate features 1,200 ft of private shoreline, five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a 4-car detached garage, a 3,000 ft carriage house, and horse stables. Despite the negative attention it garnered, this home was built decades before the Bin Laden family occupied it.

Many sources state that the house was built by William Pratt, a New York native and chemist who helped invent Jell-O, but there is evidence to refute that claim. In the May 18, 1928 issue of the Orlando Evening Star, one column reads, “Frank Pratt of Rochester, N. Y., has commenced the erection of $45,000.00 home at Edgewater Beach on Johns Lake. The house will be a large two-story of hollow tile construction and the ground will be landscaped including a sea-wall fronting Johns Lake. This will be one of the finest homes in Central Florida.”

By December 22, 1928, the house was completed. One article in the Orlando Evening Star stated, “The new home of Frank M. Pratt has recently been completed at a cost of something over $150,000 and has a beautiful setting the shore of Johns Lake, Mr. Pratt having built a sea wall about a half mile long and dredged in the sand from the lake on which hundreds of palms and a large amount of tropical planting has been put out.” Some articles also state that Llyod Pratt designed the Mediterranean-style home.

pratt house — The Pratt House. date unknown

Pratt Estate — Pratt House. date unknown.

Earl Sila Tupper, Founder of Tupperware Plastics

Earl Silas Tupper, the inventor of Tupperware and founder of the Tupperware Plastics Company, owned the property in the early 1950s. Tupper was born on a farm in Berlin, New Hampshire. When he was three, his family relocated, and he spent the rest of his childhood on various farms in central Massachusetts.

He later attended Bryant College (now Bryant University) in Providence, Rhode Island. After completing his studies, he started a landscaping and nursery business, but the Great Depression led to its bankruptcy. Following this setback, he secured a job with the DuPont chemical company.

Using molding machines bought from the company, Tupper repurposed black, rigid polyethylene slag—a waste byproduct of oil refining provided by his supervisor at DuPont—by purifying and molding it into lightweight, durable containers, cups, bowls, plates, and even gas masks used during World War II. He later developed liquid-proof, airtight lids, drawing inspiration from the secure seal of paint can lids.

Tupper founded the Tupperware Plastics Company in 1938, and by 1948, the company introduced Tupper Plastics to hardware and department stores. Around 1946, he connected with Brownie Wise, who caught his attention with a lengthy phone call to his South Grafton, Massachusetts office, where she detailed her remarkable success selling Tupperware through home parties.

Inspired by a marketing strategy developed by Wise and early pioneers Tom and Ann Damigella from Everett, Massachusetts, Tupperware was pulled from retail stores in the early 1950s, shifting entirely to direct sales through home parties—a pioneering example of what became known as “party plan” marketing.

The Tupperware Company’s corporate headquarters was moved from Massachusetts to Orlando, Florida, in 1952, where he would purchase the Pratt House. According to Wise’s autobiography, she was accused of “undermining the company’s image” when she reportedly used a Tupperware container as a dog dish. The two had a falling out, resulting in her dismissal in 1958. Tupper sold the Tupperware Company to Rexall Drug Company for $16 million. Shortly afterward, he divorced his wife, gave up his U.S. citizenship to avoid taxes, and moved to an island off the coast of Costa Rica, or, according to other sources, Isla San José, where Tupper suffered a heart attack and died on October 3, 1983.

The Mastenbrooks

In 1956, Garrett Nicholas Mastenbrook purchased the home from Tina Pratt Hale, the last of the Pratt family to own it, and moved his family to Florida. Luther Padgett was the groundskeeper since its construction in 1928 and remained in that capacity. Mastenbrook was head of the Kalamazoo Die Casting Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and was formally involved in the wholesale oil business. He became involved in citrus farming and the buying and selling of citrus groves here in Florida.

The house was later purchased by Phillip C. Grace, who sold the home in 1979 to David and Linda McCarthy for $267,800. The McCarthys spent between $600,00 and $800,000 remodeling it. A year later, they sold the property for $1.61 million to Desert Bear LTD, a Liberian corporation owned by Khalil bin Laden.

mastenbrook estate — The Mastenbrook Estate. *Courtesy of the Mastenbrook family*

laden 1 — A close-up of the Bin Laden Mansion, then known as the Mastenbrook Estate. *Courtesy of the Mastenbrook family*

mastenbrook estate, later known as the bin laden mansion — Aerial view of the Mastenbrook Estate and citrus groves. *Courtesy of the Mastenbrook family*

the mastenbrooks at their in oakland, florida, later known as the binladen mansion — Shown playing croquet from left to right; Garett Mastenbrook, 16-year-old Idalee, 15-year-old Gary, Mastenbrook’s wife Marie Elaine Deboer Mastenbrook, and 13-year-old Mary Jane. 1956. *The Orlando Sentinel*

Khalil bin Laden, the “Desert Bear”

Khalil bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden’s 54 siblings, bought the property for his wife as a wedding gift in December 1980 through his Florida company, Desert Bear, for $1.6 million. The mansion would also be known as “Desert Bear” during their occupation. In 1983, Khalil attempted to sell the home for $2.5 million or rent the house for $1,200 a day, whichever offer came first. Although it’s not known if someone rented it, it is known that he retained ownership of the house until 2006.

Soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalil bin Laden, along with many other of his relatives, left the United States on a chartered flight accompanied by bodyguards and associates. Khalil bin Laden had suspicious connections to the Tri-Border frontier region of Brazil, which is known for evidence of terrorism. Adding to the suspicions were his inquiries to informant Bonnie Sharrit about bringing Arabs from Saudi Arabia and Brazil to attend a Florida flight school. According to federal officials, though, Khalil bin Laden was not involved in the terrorist attacks in any form and left the country for the safety of his and his family.

The house lay vacant after that, attracting many vandals who damaged it, including a safe thrown down a stairway and bullet holes in the walls. In February 2006, the property was sold to Aleem Hussain, the majority holder of PYC Development IV, for $4,043,800. Less than a year later, he was charged with running a $9 million real-estate scam and sentenced to seven years in prison in 2007. The house was foreclosed upon and bought by Johns Lake Investment Group for $1,725,800.

Khalil bin Laden's signature — Khalil bin Laden’s signature

John LeClair

Around November 2012, John LeClair signed a lease-purchase agreement with Johns Lake Investment Group on the property. LeClair lived in the back house with nothing but a leather couch, a glass coffee table, a flatscreen television, and a computer, while the main house was planned to be rented out for weddings. Instead, LeClair abandoned the property after taking deposits for nuptials. Circuit Judge Donald Myers ordered LeClair to make restitution of $37,000 for “deceptive and unfair” business practices. According to those involved, LeClair had either hidden or sold off all his assets, and those he had stolen from never received their deposits back.

The English Family

The house was purchased by Gary and Dana English in 2014 for $2 million. To pay off debt and obtain funding to renovate the home, the Englishs planned on selling 11.3 acres of their 17-acre property to a development firm. The buyer, Alabama-based LIV Development Inc., proposed building a 242-unit luxury apartment complex. The residents of Deer Island, an affluent neighborhood between the highway and the lake, opposed the proposal as it was incompatible with the town’s character. They also cited traffic concerns for S.R. 50, an often-congested, six-lane commuter route into Orlando, possibly harming their property values. City commissioners rejected the proposal in a 4-1 vote.

Owing more than $2.1 million for the property, Gary and Dana English filed for bankruptcy, and the property was foreclosed upon in July 2019. In 2021, the property was sold to Virginia-based real estate and development firm Cornerstone Group Development LLC for $7.7 million, who filed a notice in January 2024 to make “improvements” to the property, including demolition. The house was again abandoned for several years before meeting its end on April 25, 2024.