Americans consume millions of gallons of beverages like coffee, soda, and juice each year, with the prodigious profits going into the pockets of relatively few executives and founding families. They, in turn, have poured that cash into some of the country's most expensive real estate—or at least the most overgrown houses in the neighborhood. Case in point: AriZona ice tea co-founder Don Vultaggio and his wife Irene bought a two-acre private peninsula in the upscale Long Island community of Sands Point, N.Y. for $4M in 2004 and proceeded to built a giant stone manor. The huge, chateau-inspired spread (above) was designed in part by Irene—who was also responsible for AriZona's iconic can graphics—but things haven't been so smooth since the 30-room home was completed in 2007. By 2012, the Vultaggio's former housekeeper was suing for a whopping $16.5M, accusing Irene of verbal abuse and unpaid overtime.
? Starbucks co-founder and CEO Howard Schultz has served as chairman of the company's board since 1985, and took home an astounding $23.8M in 2012. He splits his time between the Seattle and this summer mansion in East Hampton, N.Y. Known as the Robert Steinberg Residence, the 8,500-square-foot sprawler was designed by starchitect Charles Gwathemy for a four-acre waterfront parcel. Completed in 1989, it was fully renovated by former Gwathemy Siegel architect Kang Chang. In 2011, Schultz hosted his son's wedding on the sprawling grounds.
? A former PepsiCo executive who switched to Coca-Cola bottling distribution, Marvin Herb sold out to Coca-Cola Enterprises in 2001 for $1.4B in cash and stock. He has since plunged much of his fortune into Chicago commercial real estate, but also spent eight figures building this Florida vacation home. Located on the beachfront in the tony West Florida enclave of Port Royal, the house was built in 2003, sprawls over 32,000 square feet, and has an estimated value of $35M.
? If Marvin Herb and his Coca-Cola fortune have so-far fared quite well, the same can't be said for the fortunes of the mansion that once belonged to Coca-Cola's founders, the Candler family. Known as Briarcliff, the 1922 Georgian Revival mansion was constructed for Buddy Candler, son of the company founder, who kept exotic animals on the estate's 42-acre grounds. Now a fixture on the campus of Emory University, the house remains boarded up, neglected, and reportedly haunted.
? Speaking of haunted mansions, the Schweppe estate, in the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Ill., is infamous for the string of tragic events associated with it. Built as a wedding present for Laura Shedd, of Marshall Field, and Charles Schweppe, of the British bottling family, this beautiful brick estate once hosted the Duke of Windsor. After Shedd passed away suddenly, a depressed Schweppe shot himself in his bedroom here, prompting rumors of ghostly happenings that persist to this day. Those legends may have something to do with why the epic home has yet to sell. It is currently listed for $12M.
· AriZona co-founder Don Vultaggio and wife Irene sued for $16.5 million by former housekeeper Norma Genovese [New York Daily News]
· Charles Gwathemy [Triangle Modernist Houses]
· 2700 Gordon Drive [Property Shark]
· A glimpse inside Briarcliff's 'Abandoned Mansion' [Emory Report]
· This Lakefront Mock Brit Once Hosted the Duke of Windsor [Curbed National]
· 405 North Mayflower Road [Coldwell Banker]
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