Notorious Montana Mansion Rescued By A Couple From Meeteetse Can Be Had For $27M

The infamous castle mansion in Billings, Montana, is back on the market, and your $26.9 million buys more than its 10 bedrooms and 19 bathrooms.

The 30,843-square-foot palatial estate also comes with an indoor shooting range, movie theater, bowling alley and a notorious story that involves a huge coal industry scam, fake kidnapping and rogue biker gang.

Realtor Gregg ONeil said there’s much more to the castle than that history. He’s rebranded the opulent property as "The Montana Chateau," distancing it from its scandal-ridden past.

Real estate filings and court documents show how Wyoming residents were initially pulled into the saga of this mega property on the far west edge of Billings.

Then a couple of contractors, who list their home address in Meeteetse, bought the property, finished construction and are now asking a princely price for this dream mansion.

Massive Fraud

Larry Wayne Price Jr., a vice president at Signal Peak Energy coal mine, orchestrated one of the most audacious financial fraud schemes in recent memory.

While serving as a coal mine executive, Price systematically defrauded his employer and private investors, and even attempted to stage his own abduction to cover his tracks.

According to federal court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Price devised and executed schemes to defraud multiple entities of about $20 million between 2016 and 2018.

His method was as simple as it was brazen. While serving as manager of various coal mining operations, he falsely solicited millions from investors for the alleged purchase of real property, mining equipment and supplies, then diverted the money for personal use.

The scope of Price's crimes was staggering.

Federal prosecutors documented in the criminal indictment that he fraudulently induced the owners of Three Blind Mice LLC — a Wyoming company engaged in coal mining activities — to loan him $7.5 million for equipment purchases that never materialized.

Court records show Price made a series of interstate wire transfers totaling nearly $9 million between July 2017 and January 2018, moving stolen money from banks in Texas and West Virginia to Rocky Mountain Bank in Montana.

But perhaps most shocking was Price's desperate attempt to fake his own disappearance when his financial schemes began unraveling. 

“Price falsely claimed he had been kidnapped by men who may have been associated with an outlaw motorcycle gang,” according to court documents. 

Cowboy State Daily tried unsuccessfully to contact Price Jr., who is now out of prison.

Stolen Money To Build Dream Mansion

The scheme's victims included two Wyoming doctors who found themselves pulled into Price's web of deceit: Dr. Robert Schlidt and Dr. Raoul Joubran, both of Casper.

Along with Billings resident Stephen Casher, these men formed the investment group known as Three Blind Mice, according to court documents.

The court file shows Price borrowed $7.5 million from the group with promises to repay $11 million in total, money that was supposedly earmarked for a legitimate coal mining enterprise.

Instead, Price funneled the money into his personal projects, including the construction of his palatial Billings mansion.

When the scheme collapsed in 2018, court documents show that Price was forced to sign over the Billings mansion and seven other properties in Montana and Virginia to Three Blind Mice in a quitclaim deed.

An attorney familiar with the case told Cowboy State Daily that the defrauded investors were able to recoup their losses by selling the seized properties.

Billings Banker

Price didn't act alone, according to court documents. 

Stephen Casher, who served as market president of Rocky Mountain Bank, became a key accomplice and eventual victim himself, as he reportedly invested money alongside Three Blind Mice. 

The federal court file reveals that Casher used his position at the bank to facilitate Price's fraudulent loans.

Between September 2014 and March 2016, according to the indictment, Casher approved loans to entities controlled by Price without properly disclosing the arrangement to the bank.

Casher failed to inform Rocky Mountain Bank about Price's true financial situation and cash liquidity, critical information that could have prevented the fraudulent transactions.

Casher was indicted on multiple federal charges, including bank fraud, money laundering and blackmail.

Court documents detail how Casher allegedly “knowingly demand and receive a thing of value, namely interest in real estate and other consideration,” from an unnamed victim. 

The charges also detailed how Casher "knew of and facilitated a private loan to Larry 'L.J.' Price" and later surreptitiously approved additional loans.

Casher ultimately pleaded guilty to federal charges related to his misrepresentations in his lending capacity at Rocky Mountain Bank and received his own prison sentence for his role in the schemes.

Rebirth With New Owner

Today, the mansion's ownership has shifted to a husband and wife — Jock and Kathy Clause — contractors who list their home address in Meeteetse, Wyoming.

According to Montana Cadastral records, the Clauses are now the registered owners of the sprawling estate. 

Cowboy State Daily reached a family member and requested an interview with Jock and Kathy, but did not hear back from the couple. 

In March 2021, “The Castle” was back in the news in Billings, with the Clauses identified as former mobile home park owners who sold Cherry Creek Estates mobile home park in the Billings Heights before buying the mansion for $7.5 million.

Real estate agent Gregg ONeil, who is marketing the property, confirmed that his clients are a "private people" who "bought it with the intent of finishing (the construction)."

ONeil noted that the new owners "knew the construction method and knew the people who were in that Three Blind Mice consortium."

Substantial work has been done on the property since the sale, said ONeil, including exterior improvements that cost more than $1 million.

Palatial Proportions

The mansion itself stands out as probably the most extravagant private residence in Billings.

Real estate listings show the staggering scope of Price's vision: A 30,843-square-foot stone chateau featuring amenities that rival luxury resorts.

According to listings, the property is "perched above Billings with commanding views of Yellowstone County and the Beartooth Mountains, this 30,000-plus-square-foot stone chateau is a legacy estate of unrivaled distinction."

The listing describes it as "built to commercial standards and inspired by the grandeur of a modern-day castle, the home offers 10 bedrooms, 15 full/4 half-baths, guest quarters, a 14-car garage, and personal and commercial elevators."

The property's amenities, according to multiple real estate listings, include three pools (one indoor), large water features, indoor shooting range, multiple kitchens, two-lane bowling alley, three-hole golf course, multiple outdoor kitchens, tennis and volleyball courts, hiking trails, fully equipped gym and locker rooms, golf simulator, wine cellar and an opulent private theater."

The estate sprawls across what listings describe as 98 acres that also has "exterior radiant cement floors to easily melt the snow from Montana winters."

Real estate descriptions detail that "inside the grand estate you will find a glass, circular elevator surrounded by a spiral staircase that operates between the five stories.

“The gourmet kitchen has never been used and features top-of-the-line appliances and a gorgeous walnut kitchen island. A butler's kitchen is located between the main kitchen and the formal dining room which makes entertaining and dinner service unobtrusive for owner and guests."

The master suite alone appears fit for royalty. It has his and hers sleeping rooms, a formal sitting room, automated blackout curtains and even its own kitchen.

The new owners got a bargain, even with all the money put into finishing it off.

According to Price's sentencing, between land purchase and construction costs, Price had invested more than $16 million in developing the estate before his criminal schemes collapsed.

At the time, the mansion's tax assessed value alone exceeds $10.7 million, according to the sentencing document.

Marketing Makeover

Now with the property back on the market, ONeil is working to rebrand, which might help distance the property from its criminal origins.

"We're going to rebrand it as the Montana Chateau," ONeil told Cowboy State Daily, though he emphasized that the campaign isn't quite ready for a formal public announcement.

"We're not really prepared to do anything for a couple of weeks," he said, explaining that a formal press release will come from Berkshire Hathaway National once a new website is active.

ONeil acknowledged the transformation that has taken place since the Clauses bought the property.

"The ones now are current," he said of the recent photographs in real estate listings, explaining that the property has been dramatically improved since previous listings. 

He said an 18-wheeler full of furniture helped fill the space.

The agent stressed the property's evolution.

"You know, people look at the pictures from 2021 and they think there's been no change," he said, referencing earlier listings when much of the interior was only virtually staged. "Then there wasn't anything but sagebrush on the property."

"You know, it’s such a vast property,” he said.

And while rebranding makes sense, whoever ends up with “The Montana Chateau” won’t get just an amazing mansion, they’ll also have one heck of a story to tell.

David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.