Inside David Cassidy’s $3.9M Home He Shared with 3rd Wife When He Cut Daughter Out of His Will

David Cassidy was rich enough to live in a million-dollar house but left his daughter nothing. Part of the reason was that he and Katie Cassidy didn’t have a relationship, and maybe also because of how she was conceived. 

Before he died, David Cassidy had two biological children daughter, Katie, and a son, Beau. “The Patridge Family” actor left a will determining how what was left of his riches would be distributed.

The star, who was well known for his portrayal of the teenage character Keith Partridge, managed to reconcile with his whole family before he passed but left one of his two children out of his will. 

David Cassidy as Keith on “The Partridge Family” on May 22, 1972, and him with Sue Shifrin-Cassidy at “42nd Street” on Broadway on May 15, 2004, in New York City. | Source: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content & Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic/Getty Images

According to reports, Katie never got a cent of her father’s estate from the will he’d written in 2004. When he wrote it, David lived in a lavish mansion with his third wife and didn’t have significant financial issues.

His financial issues began before he died, leading him to file for bankruptcy. Katie, who starred in “Arrow” and “Gossip Girl,” had a complicated relationship with David, and they were estranged before briefly reuniting ahead of his death. 

Katie Cassidy at The Paley Center For Media’s PaleyFest honoring “Arrow” on March 9, 2013, in Beverly Hills, California. | Source: David Livingston/Getty Images

The 1970s musical sitcom actor left Beau, then-26, all of his $150,000 funds, and his music memorabilia were given to his half-siblings Shawn, Ryan, and Patrick. After losing their father, Beau posted a throwback father-son image and wrote:

“I’ll always, always love you.”

David and Beau Cassidy at MTV’s 3rd Annual Rock ‘n Jock Softball in Long Beach, California, on January 23, 1992. | Source: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc/Getty Images

Katie was born in 1986 to David and former a model Sherry Williams. At the time of his only daughter’s birth, the famous actor was married to Meryl Tanz, and his son was welcomed years later.

While married to his third and final wife, Sue Shifrin-Cassidy, Beau was born in 1991. His children followed his footsteps in the entertainment industry, with Katie becoming an actress and Beau adding music into the mix.

DAVID’S $3.9 MILLION FORT LAUDERDALE HOME

David once lived in a 7,100-square-foot Fort Lauderdale, Florida mansion located at 1600 S. Ocean Drive. The star initially bought the home in 2001 for $1.1 million and renovated it in 2006.

The Harbor Beach mansion boasted five bedrooms and seven bathrooms! The home had 130 feet of private beach access, a canal to the west, a dock on Lake Mayan, and it faced the Atlantic Ocean on the east.

The exquisite home was also a short walk to Las Olas Boulevard, which hosted restaurants, shops, and galleries. For entertainment, David and Sue had a large swimming pool, a gazebo, a jacuzzi, outdoor dining areas, an ornate garden, and barbecue areas.

Esti Kadosh, the rental listing broker, revealed to The New York Post in 2021 that the home had an outdoor area that made one feel like they were in a resort. The listing broker also shared that the mansion was gated for privacy and had “beautiful landscaping.”

The inside of the house was a marvel of its own with tall, vaulted ceilings, carved wooden doors, two master bedrooms — one with a gym — ornamented fireplaces, and a private spa! Kadosh also noted how the mansion had plenty of natural lighting. 

The mansion was bought for $2.6 million in December 2020 by Amy Raff and Abe Rotchel, California real estate investors. The pair planned on making the home their primary address in 2021 after renovating.

David’s former home was initially listed for $3.9 million after his death. According to People magazine in 2018, the late actor once lived in the mansion with his girlfriend Maura Rossi before they moved.

Thomas White, the realtor and former co-owner of the estate, revealed that the couple relocated to a nearby apartment before David’s death. White helped transform the mansion into a private rental property in 2015.

According to White, the late actor wanted specific personal artifacts to remain in the house known as Casa De Mayan. The house was sold at an auction in 2015 for $1.8 million to Maryland oncologist Scott Watkins and his partner Thomas White.

They rented it out with David’s memorabilia on display, for short-term vacations, before its 2018 listing. The former owners even had a plaque installed in the mansion to honor the late iconic star.

CASSIDY’S HARDSHIPS – ADDICTION, DIVORCE, AND BANKRUPTCY

David Cassidy smiling while posing for a photo on September 9.1972. | Source: Avalon/Getty Images

Before David had all the money and fame, he grew up in Manhattan, New York as an only child of actors Evelyn Ward and Jack Cassidy. However, at the age of six, his parents divorced, and five years later, he relocated with his father. 

The star lived with Jack and his second wife, “The Partridge Family” actress Shirley Jones, in Los Angeles. David’s relationship with his alcoholic father was complex, with Jack resenting his wife’s and son’s successes.

David Cassidy with his wife Sue Shifrin, circa 1993. | Source: Duncan Raban/Popperfoto/Getty Images

The actor resented his teen idol status almost from the start because he’d wanted recognition as a serious actor but appeared as the cute Keith. David felt the position left him with “a very empty, isolated, lonely existence.”

Despite his qualms, he earned over $7 million over four years, but most of it went to managers, agents, and sponges. That was the beginning of a close call with bankruptcy, with his bills mounting by 1976 and then losing his father. 

David Cassidy at a press conference in the LWT studios on May 25, 1974, London, England. | Source: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

The actor’s father passed away that year in a house fire and left his son shattered. David found shelter in spare rooms at his friend’s places and later attended therapy for five years to “gain perspective.”

The star recorded a few solo albums until the nineties and continued touring. In 2001, his album “Then and Now” launched him to the top five of the UK album charts for the first time since 1974, and he rebuilt his fortune by making investments and performing in Las Vegas.

David Cassidy signs copies of his latest CD, “Then And Now” during an in-store appearance on May 15, 2002. | Source: Albert L. Ortega/WireImage/Getty Images

Ironically, in the last years of David’s life, he also struggled with alcohol abuse. His addiction led to three driving under the influence (DUI) arrests within a five-year time frame.

In 2014 he went to rehabilitation, and he told his family and friends that he’d stopped drinking. However, a June 2018 documentary saw the former teen idol admitting that he had liver disease just two months before his death.

David Cassidy performs at BB King on January 10, 2015, in New York City. | Source: Debra L Rothenberg/Getty Images

He confessed that he didn’t have dementia, and it was all due to “complete alcohol poisoning.” David was abusing alcohol until the last months of his life before dying from organ failure; he admitted that he’d lied about his drinking, noting:

“I did this to myself to cover up the sadness and the emptiness.”

Another tragedy that occurred to the late star was when Sue filed for divorce against him after 23 years of marriage. She told TMZ that the divorce had been on the cards for some time and that she was heartbroken about their marriage ending. 

Through his representative, David shared how sad he was that his wife had opted for divorce. He explained how he’d tried to salvage their relationship in private for three months before the filing, and they finalized the divorce in 2016. 

When divorce proceedings happened between him and Sue in 2015, he declared bankruptcy. The declaration led to his Florida home going for sale in an auction. 

THE LAST YEARS OF DAVID’S LIFE

David Cassidy performs his final touring concert at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill on March 4, 2017, in New York City. | Source: Bobby Bank/Getty Images

At age 67, on November 21, 2017, David passed away at a hospital near Fort Lauderdale, the same city he’d once lived with Sue. The actor, who’d received 25,000 letters weekly at the peak of his career as Keith, 

The late star’s struggle with alcoholism, which led to his death, appeared to peak in the early 2010s with his drunk driving arrests. In 2014, David made a shocking preemptive admission to Piers Morgan about his addiction, saying:

“If I take another drink, I’m going to die, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I’m dead. … It’s very humbling, and it’s also humiliating.”

David Cassidy is seen in a police booking photo after his arrest on charges of felony DWI, driving while intoxicated, on August 21, 2013, in Schodack, New York. | Source: Schodack Police Department/Getty Images

In February 2017, the star had a disastrous concert in Agoura Hills, California, where he almost fell off the stage. A video showed how David couldn’t recall the lyrics to many of his older songs.

However, his denial about his addiction led him to host emotional interviews where he denied that he was drinking again. That was when he claimed he had dementia, like his mother and grandfather.

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