THE ROTHSCHILD WHO WASN'T

Charming, enterprising, and fabulously wealthy: KYLE DE ROTHSCHILD DESCHANEL was a New York sensation who lived on a 24/7 carousel of mega-dollar deals and raucous parties. Then his best friend found an ID labeled "ARYEH DODELSON"

- NATE FREEMAN

THERE'S A THREE-STORY, THREE-BEDROOM TOWN HOUSE AT 514 BROOME STREET IN MANHATTAN WITH AN EXPANSIVE IVY-LADEN TERRACE. Entry is through a dining room swathed in exposed brick. A stunning wooden staircase services the second floor. Venture to the basement and you'll find a wine cellar big enough for 2,500 bottles. It's the only freestanding home in SoHo, and it's available. Its owners, the personal injury attorney Seth Harris and his wife, Bonnie, put it on the market in 2017, two years after buying it. Alyssa Brody, their broker, once hosted a churros and cocoa day to lure potential buyers. In February 2022, Brody went on NBC's Open House, hoping someone with deep enough pockets might be watching.

"It's warm and cozy, with just the right touch of drama," Brody said, running her fingers over a wooden cabinet.

Months later a would-be buyer appeared out of nowhere-and SoHo central casting. Kyle Deschanel, a nattily suited, funny, and charmingly stubbled man with piercing blue eyes, expressed interest in the home as a rent-to-buy proposition. At the time Deschanel told people he worked for a discreet family office that had space on Wall Street and in Washington, DC, and was in the process of closing a deal to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Byju's, a Bangalorebased education tech start-up.