Billionaire collector Bill Koch is parting ways with a piece of Cape Cod history.
His 7.5-acre waterfront estate in Osterville’s gated Oyster Harbors enclave just hit the market for $23.85 million with Joanna Dresser and Kelly Crosby of LandVest | Christie’s International Real Estate—and it comes with some serious provenance. Before Koch bought the property in 2013 for $19.5 million, it belonged to banking heir Paul Mellon and his wife, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the influential horticulturist who designed the White House Rose Garden. The Mellons hosted everyone from movie stars to world leaders here, including their close friends John and Jackie Kennedy.
The main house, built in 1954, clocks in at 7,300 square feet with eight bedrooms and plenty of breezy, understated style. Think wide-plank floors, original fireplaces, and views of either the gardens or the sea from just about every room. There are also two two-bedroom guest cottages, a former art studio-turned-private suite, a greenhouse, and a beach house that’s barely changed since the Kennedys came by for cocktails.
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The 7,300-square-foot main house, built in 1954, features eight bedrooms.
Courtesy of Bill Koch
Outside, Bunny’s signature is everywhere. She spent years shaping the gardens—layering native plantings, specimen trees, and orchards into a landscape that feels effortless and relaxed. And in classic Mellon fashion, when the property lacked natural dunes, the couple simply brought in 2,000 tons of sand to build their own 20-foot privacy berm.
“It is important to me to preserve the home the way I remembered it when I used to visit Paul and Bunny, and maintain their influence and style over the estate,” Koch said in a statement.
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Horticulturalist Bunny Mellon shaped the gardens and landscape of the Cape Cod retreat over the years.
Courtesy of Bill Koch
The property includes over 500 feet of waterfront, a deepwater dock, and access to a small private island that now serves as a bird sanctuary. Koch has used the home as guest overflow in recent years and occasionally rented it out for $25,000 a week, The New York Post reported.
The listing comes as Koch trims down his Cape portfolio. He’s also asking $10.5 million for a nearby 1.75-acre parcel and previously listed another piece of the former Mellon spread for $16 million. Meanwhile, his real estate holdings still include a ranch in Colorado, a Palm Beach compound, and a $125 million estate outside Aspen. And if this sale wasn’t enough, Koch just offloaded nearly 8,000 bottles from his famed wine cellar in a record-breaking auction at Christie’s. The three-day sale brought in $28.8 million.
Click here to see more photos of Bill Koch’s Cape Cod compound.
Courtesy of Bill Koch
Authors
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Abby Montanez
