Elin Nordegren Bulldozed $12 Million Mansion Due to Bugs

When Tiger Woods' ex-wife, Swedish supermodel Elin Nordegren, bulldozed the $12 million Palm Beach home that she bought with some of her $100 million divorce settlement, some in the media went wild.

"For a private woman who suffered one of the world's most humiliating cheating scandals, Nordegren waited a long time to explode ... or implode, rather," Zillow proclaimed, quoting a report on TMZ. The celebrity gossip site had pronounced Nordegren a "human wrecking machine" for leveling her brand new Florida mansion simply because she didn't like the place, and because, well, "she could." Fox News also echoed the TMZ story, reporting that "Nordegren bought a $12 million Florida mansion -- just so she could knock it down." And it goes on.

But it turns out that those allegations have not proven to be exactly true.

While Nordegren did indeed give orders to tear down the 17,000-square-foot, six-bedroom mansion (which boasted an in-ground pool and an elevator), apparently the reason behind her "bold decision" was not revenge, anger or boredom. It was termites.

Nordegren's builder, Dan Reedy of Onshore Construction and Development, told People that the $12 million home, built in the 1920s, was infested with termites and carpenter ants and, furthermore, wasn't built to today's hurricane code.

Reedy told People, "We had an architect and a structural engineer out here and everyone agreed that it made more sense -- structurally and economically -- to tear it down and start over."

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Apparently Nordegren had the home disassembled and donated the parts that were still usable.

The latest reports have also revealed that Nordegren did in fact like the house, contrary to what some have claimed. In fact, the Swedish supermodel is said to have liked it so much that the new house she's building replicates the one that she tore down.

A rendering of its plans reveals that the "new" home, like the bulldozed one, features a distinctive traditional/colonial style and very similar structure.

Also see:
Mitt Romney: My 3,000-Square-Foot House Is Too Small
Now You See It, Now You Don't: The $43.5 Million Teardown
Home Demolished by Accident

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