Owning 4 homes, 4 islands?
By Nina Metz
It's magicListening to illusionist David Copperfield describe his homes, one thought comes to mind: Who knew magic was this profitable?
Six months out of the year, Copperfield lives in Las Vegas. Home is a two-floor apartment with a deck and Jacuzzi at the MGM Grand, where he performs. He also owns what he calls a "museum of magic stuff," 40,000 square feet in Las Vegas that is open for private tours and scholars only. "I have a bedroom there when I'm not staying at the hotel," he says.
The remaining months of the year, he is on tour. He comes to the Rosemont Theatre for five performances over two days on April 27 and 28.
For summer getaways, there is also a four-floor apartment in New York. More on that in a moment.For a truly dazzling experience, he heads south to the Bahamas, where he owns an archipelago of four islands, totaling about 600 acres of land -- soon to be more, he says. Cumulatively, he calls his retreat the Islands of Copperfield Bay. One island is a rentable resort (staff included). You don't rent just a room or a villa; you rent the entire island.
"The richest people in the world, they've all stayed there. I don't want to call them by name, but the richest man in the world has stayed there more than once, and the biggest rock stars have stayed there."
(According to the island's Web site, www.mushacay.com , the rental fee for you and seven of your closest friends is almost $25,000 per day -- though you'll have to pay more for extras like massages and scuba diving gear. And by the way, no credit cards are accepted -- wire transfers only.)
The five-bedroom apartment in New York spans the top four floors of an uptown Manhattan building, which he has filled with American folk art and found objects, like an old condom machine from the 1930s that hangs on the wall as a piece of art. "The building is from the '70s, but I've made it very machine-age. There's stuff from Coney Island. A whole floor is arcade machines from the turn of the century. Another floor is Balinese, with a pool."
Formerly engaged to model Claudia Schiffer, he won't say if he shares his home with anyone these days. "After years of being very public with my private life, I'm now being as mysterious as my magic," he says. But he was more than willing to talk about his New York apartment.
1. Most luxurious feature in your home: The glass walls that wrap about the apartment. That's my wallpaper. When a cloud comes, you're actually in the cloud.
2. One thing on a wall in your living room: I have one of the best collections of artist mannequins. They made these incredible carved things. I've acquired some that were owned by famous artists, like Cezanne. So I have a whole wall where they're crawling around the wall. They're posed in different positions. I've got 6-foot tall ones hanging from the chandeliers. I have maybe 50 or 60 of them, and they're not just on the wall; I've some sitting on the couches.
3. One thing you have in your house from your childhood: This is amazing. I was a big fan of Paul Winchell, who was a famous ventriloquist when I was a kid in the '60s and '70s. He also invented the artificial heart. But anyway, I bought his puppets last year. So sitting in the chair, as spooky as it sounds, are his actual figures that I watched on TV when I was growing up: Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. I have lots of puppets, actually. In Las Vegas, I have the real Howdy Doody.
4. What's the oldest thing in your fridge or freezer? Otter pops. Those push-up ices in plastic tubes. I'm never there, so they're old -- but they won't go bad.
5. One thing on your nightstand: A picture of my mom and dad. I just lost my dad this year. My mom is not doing so good either. She has Alzheimer's.
6. If we came unexpectedly, would we find your bed made? Yes. I'm a Virgo.
7. Favorite household chore? You know on my roof I've got a pool, and in the summertime -- for the week that I'll end up there -- there's a thing we do called "sky beach" and I put up chaise longues and everything. So I stain the deck and the chairs to make it look fresh. It's very therapeutic for me.
8. Most high-tech gadget or appliance in your home? I love, not snow cones, but Hawaiian shaved ice. So I have this ice shaver that shaves ice into a very thin, snowlike texture. And you put flavor on it.
9. What is the biggest collection in your home? One whole floor is arcade machines. Do you remember the fortune teller [machine] from the movie "Big?" I have 300 of those machines on the bottom floor of my apartment, which is the 54th floor of the building. I was very involved in the restoration of all of them.
10. What reading material would we find in your bathroom? The New York Post.
11. Biggest surprise we'd find in your closet: Just sold it. I was a "Superman" fan when I was a kid -- the George Reeves TV show. And I had his flying suit. I had it in there for five years, and I sold it because it was literally just sitting there in the closet and I had no place to display it. But it was really cool to have Superman's cape and flying costume, which was all actually grays and browns so it would show up better in black-and-white.
12. Where do you eat most of your meals? Out on the roof.
13. Favorite place to watch TV? Bed. That's where I have the Oscar the director Michael Curtiz won for "Casablanca." I keep it there to remind me to do good work.
Były Katowice w 2004 roku, był Berlin w 2005 roku i wreszcie Hannover w 2006 roku… 
