Inside RHONJ star Margaret Josephs’ renovated $2.2 million New Jersey mansion with a hot pink office and full outdoor kitchen

GO INSIDE From Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs, the remodeled $2.2 million New Jersey mansion features a hot pink office and full outdoor kitchen.

While dropping thousands of dollars for renovations, Margaret was sued in February for $180,000 for failing to make payments from an earlier lawsuit for foreclosure on their New Jersey home.

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Margaret, 55, bought the home for $2.2 million with her husband Joe Benigno, 66.

According to Bravo, they bought the 115-year-old home as a renovation “project,” but had no idea how much work they were heading into.

The massive mansion sits on 2.8 acres in the woods of New Jersey.

Margaret and Joe took out a loan of just over $1 million to secure the property before they begin renovations.

The RHONJ star remodeled her home’s backyard to create a complete outdoor cooking space.

On a gray-tiled patio that stretches out into the woods, Margaret has had a massive grill and stainless steel stove installed.

It included a kitchen island, a dining table and a sitting area with a lime green sofa and giant armchairs.

‘VINTAGE HOLLYWOOD’

Margaret took the Bravo cameras behind the scenes in her brightly patterned bright pink office.

The entire office wall was covered in bright pink tropical print wallpaper, which Margaret said kept her energized for the day.

In addition to his desk equipped with numerous notebooks and planners, his office items included a dummy bar cart and a Peloton.

Margaret was particularly enthusiastic about her personalized Barbie crown decoration.

It hung on the wall in her office and was made up of tinsel, sparkles, blonde Barbie dolls and Christmas orbs.

The crown included beaded necklaces and custom beaded letters that spelled out words and names such as “Queen”, “Joe” and “Marg”.

She said the crown was a “true work of art”.

Margaret concluded her tour by saying that her entire office space reminded her of “vintage Hollywood”.

TOTAL TRANSFORMATION

Margaret also renovated her kitchen, which was originally built in 1956 and included a fireplace and built-in meat slicer.

The housewife completely removed the three-story fireplace from her home and gave the space a massive facelift.

She added tiled flooring with a massive white and gold marble kitchen island.

The mansion also includes a ballroom with a full bar, grand piano, pool table and fireplace.

Margaret also plans to renovate her library.

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JERSEY DRAMA

Though the Real Housewife’s dream mansion didn’t come without its own drama and high price tag.

The Sun previously reported that Margaret and Joe were sued for $180,000 on February 9, 2022.

In court documents obtained by The Sun, plaintiffs Charles and Camille Ardito claimed to have purchased two homes in Englewood, New Jersey.

To “encourage” the Arditos to complete the deal, Margaret said one of the properties “could be quickly turned into a profit”.

Margaret and Joe reportedly agreed to buy one property for $1,100,000 and the second, which is the house the RHONJ stars live in today, for $1,800,000.

The court documents said: “The agreement called [the Arditos] provide $400,000 for the purchase of the properties. [The Arditos] eventually provided $440,000 to be used by [Margaret and Joe].”

The Bravo stars have agreed to contribute $180,000 towards the purchase price of the properties.

But the Arditos claimed Margaret and Joe bought the first house for $1,500,000 instead of $1,100,000 and the second house for $1,800,000 instead of $1,400,000.

The lawsuit continued that Margaret and Joe “falsely stated there was no judgment against them” when applying for mortgages.

The court documents continued: “In fact, between the two of them, the defendants had judgments entered against them totaling over $330,000 which would constitute liens on the properties, if registered, and they were soon after the fence.”

Court documents alleged: ‘The defendants failed to make the required mortgage payments under the loans. The defendants defaulted on the [first property] by failing to make payments due and due on July 1, 2017.

“They have defaulted on the [second property] by failing to make payment due and due on September 1, 2017.”

In December 2017, Unity Bank filed a foreclosure complaint against Margaret and Joe, which was flagged at the time of filing.

The Arditos claimed they “did not know the foreclosure action had been filed” and were not told by the reality TV stars.

According to court documents, the first property was sold on August 23, 2019 for $100 and the second, where Margaret and Joe live today, was not sold.

FIRST TRIAL

The Arditos sued Margaret and Joe in 2019 for breach of contract, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, unjust enrichment and equitable lien/mortgage.

The parties agreed to settle in April 2021.

The lawsuit claimed Margaret and Joe agreed to pay the Arditos $280,000.

This would be ensured by a first payment of $25,000, then $35,000 every 90 days from July 2021 to October 2022, and a final payment of $45,000 in January 2023.

Margaret and Joe would have made the first payment and two installments.

When the January 14, 2022 payment arrived, they only paid them $5,000 of the $35,000 owed.

They are suing for $180,000 because that is the amount left for the settlement.

Margaret and Joe have yet to respond to the lawsuit.

PAST MONEY PROBLEMS

Margaret struggled with financial problems for years.

The Sun previously reported that Capital One Bank sued Margaret on December 5, 2019 for $12,172.86.

The lawsuit read: “Defendant failed to make periodic payments to the account, which was later charged off.

“The entire account balance is due to the applicant and is currently due and payable in full.”

Court documents continued that Capital One demanded payment from the credit account, but the star of the hit Bravo show allegedly “failed and refused to remit the same”.

Margaret was ordered to pay the judgment.

Margaret was also sued in March 2018 by a law firm over an unpaid legal bill in the amount of $3,568.73.

She was ordered to pay $3,744.10 in July 2018.

In 2014, competitor Vineyard Vines sued its company Macbeth Collection for trademark infringement.

On a November 27, 2019 episode of RHONJ, said of the lawsuit, “I just had a tough few years. I had a horrible lawsuit with Vineyard Vines… They accused me of stealing their logo, which I didn’t.

“I settled for about $300,000 because I couldn’t afford to go to trial. I filed for bankruptcy. They put a lien on my property. I’m up to my eyeballs in legal bills.

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