Billionaire Bill Koch Lists Bunny Mellon’s Former Cape Cod Home for $23.85 Million
The businessman kept the interiors similar to how the couple had styled their summer retreat, which has hosted world leaders, industrialists, and film stars

The former Cape Cod home of celebrated horticulturist Bunny Mellon is on the market for $23.85 million. Billionaire businessman Bill Koch is the seller, and Joanna Dresser and Kelly Crosby of LandVest have the listing. Located at 17 Indian Trail in Osterville, Massachusetts, the sprawling home boasts eight bedrooms and nine baths across 7,310 square feet. The single-family abode sits on 7.43 acres and includes private beach ownership, scenic waterfront views, central air conditioning, and oil heating.
The home, which is situated on a private island, was purchased by Paul Mellon—whose family established Washington D.C.’s National Gallery of Art—and his wife Bunny, in 1954 as a summer retreat. Here, they hosted world leaders, industrialists, and film stars, including John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.
Naturally, Bunny designed the gardens and landscape of the property, which features a plethora of native plants and trees. She also cleared land to make way for a tennis court, flower and vegetable gardens, and fruit trees. Additionally, Bunny had gardeners plant thousands of annuals every year, as mentioned in the 2017 tome Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Koch had always admired the Mellons’s art collection when he visited this property as a guest, beginning in the 1970s after he first moved to Cape Cod. “[Paul Mellon] had some of the world’s greatest masterpieces,” Koch told the publication. “I always wanted a Van Gogh, and he knew it, and would always—with just a touch of smugness—steer me into the room where it hung.”
Every summer, Paul Mellon would transport his art collection from Virginia to Cape Cod. “He taught me how to live with fine art in a wonderful, intimate way,” Koch told the WSJ. “My neighbors up here can thank him for their views of the Botero bronzes on my lawn.”
As for the interior design of the home, it still boasts a look similar to how the Mellons had it. “I wanted to maintain the house as I remembered it,” Koch explains. “Bunny Mellon’s designs and style still permeate the property.”
The Cape Cod estate also has guest cottages, a beach house, a greenhouse, and an artist’s studio.