Inside Wealth

The 'exotic wonderland' of a billionaire: flora, fauna and black swans

The Steinhardt Gardens
Kerima Greene | CNBC
The Steinhardt Secret Gardens.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

Billionaire investor and legendary hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt opens his 57-acre garden to the public only twice a year.

CNBC's "Power Lunch" got a sneak peek at the rare and wonderful collection of flora, fauna and exotic animals, which included real black swans (not the scary figurative ones that often portend financial doom).

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Since closing his hedge fund in the mid-1990's, Steinhardt has focused much of his energies and personal fortune on his Mount Kisco, New York, estate. He is also focused on philanthropic efforts and chairs The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life.

—By CNBC's Kerima Greene
Posted 20 Dec 2015

Camels, wallabies and lemurs, oh my!

The Steinhardt Gardens
Kerima Greene | CNBC

The property features a menagerie of exotic wildlife, including camels, albino wallabies, zebras, capybara, flamingos and lemurs.

The wolf-deer cat

The Steinhardt Gardens
Kerima Greene | CNBC

Most of the animals roam freely behind low fences, including this rare serval (Leptailurus serval), a medium-size wildcat native to sub-Saharan Africa. The name "serval" is derived from a Portuguese word meaning "wolf-deer."

The Domestic Diva approves

A zebra at the Steinhardt Secret Gardens.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

Friend and neighbor Martha Stewart called Steinhardt's place a "veritable paradise" and an "exotic wonderland."

A bit of Japan in New York

Japanese maples on the Steinhardt property gardens.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

Steinhardt's estate features a 7-acre cultivar of Japanese maple trees, the largest collection in North America. Most trees were transported directly from Japan.

These black swans don't care about markets

Black swans on the Steinhardt property.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

A 1-acre enclosed pond is home to over 75 variety of birds and waterfowl, including several Australian black swans (Cygnus atratus). The species was immortalized in Nassim Taleb's book, "Black Swan," about rare and unpredictable events that impact the financial markets.

Lots of food, and people to feed them

A crane roams on the Steinhardt property gardens.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

The billionaire's animals consume over 100,000 pounds of feed annually. The estate also employs dozens of groundskeepers and wildlife specialists.

The main house

The Steinhardt Secret Gardens.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

The Steinhardts' personal residence area includes an Adirondack-style main house, barns, paddocks and a working vineyard.

What you can do with $4 billion

A llama on the Steinhardt property gardens.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

Steinhardt called the place "the only physical possession in my life from which I derive real pleasure." (Architectural Digest, May 2003). He spent 29 years running a $4.4-billion hedge fund with returns of 30 percent each year.

Camels from the Steinhardt gardens.
Kerima Greene | CNBC

A peaceable kingdom: The estate is less than an hour drive from Manhattan