AIKEN — A historic home whose owner is facing possible time in prison is under contract to be sold.
Local entrepreneur David Meunier told the Aiken Standard on July 16 that he is planning to buy the Constantine House at 3406 Richland Ave. West.
Cody Anderson, who purchased the nearly 5,000-square-foot residence for $1 million in 2020, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in February.
In exchange, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Matthews and Winston Holliday agreed to drop a second charge, bank fraud, when Anderson is sentenced.
That hasn’t happened yet.
Federal grand jury indicted Anderson in 2024
Anderson owns George Funeral Home & Cremation Center.
Meunier is a restaurateur (La Parisienne) and a real estate investor. He also is the owner La Bourgogne Club de Polo.
“It’s good opportunity,” said Meunier of why he wants to purchase Constantine House. “I looked at it last August, I think, or September — I forgot — and the price they were asking was very far away from what I wanted to pay. And then last week, the broker reached out to me Thursday evening … and said, ‘If you are [still] interested, we can meet.’ I said, OK, let’s meet tomorrow at 9 a.m.’ We met Friday … and we got the contract done by the end of the day.”
Meunier added that the closing is set for mid-August.
He declined to disclose the price because the transaction hasn’t been finalized.
“It’s a cash deal,” he said. “There is no due diligence. There is no inspection report. There is nothing.
“[But] it’s not a done deal because we need to have a clear title on everything,” he continued. “There is no way that I’m going to back out because I would lose all of my deposit money. I’m moving forward.”
Constantine House is listed for sale for $1.55 million. The Aiken Standard previously reported it was listed for sale for $2.25 million in September 2024.
In addition to Constantine House, Meunier will acquire the furniture inside the home and another piece of property nearby that Anderson purchased when he bought the residence from Dr. Richard Amendola and his wife, Carol.
Greek architect Augustus Edison Constantine designed the Constantine House, which was built in the Kalmia Hill neighborhood prior to World War II.
Past owners of the Georgian mansion include the Verenes family, Jim and Dee Slovic, Bill and Anne Thomasson and Nancy Moore Thurmond, the second wife of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.
“I have always liked this house,” said Meunier, who saw it for the first time in 2019. “There is a famous comic book series called ‘Tintin’ (‘The Adventures of Tintin’), and it reminds me of the house in that.”
Constantine House will be Meunier’s private residence.
He and his wife, Lauren, are the parents of four daughters. Their son, Anthony, died in a single-vehicle accident in 2022.
“We already have four grandchildren, and we need a [large] house where the family can gather together,” Meunier said. “We need a house where our kids can come and bring their children, and the children will have a wonderful memory on Christmas and all that kind of stuff.”
Meunier’s youngest daughter, Nina, is representing her father in his purchase of the Constantine House. A recent summa cum laude graduate of Florida State University, she is a listing broker/agent with Haven Real Estate.