Televangelist Peter Popoff is selling his California mansion for $8.1M
Controversial televangelist and prosperity preacher Peter Popoff, who amassed millions of dollars through his ministry hawking "debt cancelation" and healing "miracle water" advertised as a "powerful biblical point of contact," is now selling his California mansion for $8.1 million.
The listing, first highlighted by Dirt, notes that the custom estate built by Mur-sol features six bedrooms with walk-in closets, approximately nine bathrooms and a library covering over 8,302 square feet of "luxurious living space."
"Situated on 2.27 acres of stunning manicured grounds offering privacy plus stunning mountain & city light views," a Redfin listing of the home just outside Los Angeles states.
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The home's sale history shows that Popoff purchased the mansion in April 2007 for $4.5 million. If he finds a buyer for his asking price, he'd make a profit of around $3.6 million before real estate fees and taxes.
Popoff, 76, became famous in the 1980s for his "prophetic anointing," where he would work large crowds, find sick people and offer them healing. It was revealed through a 1986 exposé on "The Tonight Show" that Popoff used an earpiece and his wife, Elizabeth, used a radio to feed him information about his targets and their ailments, which he suggested came to him through divine knowledge.
The impact of the revelation forced the Peter Popoff Evangelistic Association to file for bankruptcy in 1987.
Although it seemed his ministry was over, Popoff told GQ in 2017 that support for his ministry was only impacted briefly and his finances were barely affected. He said declaring bankruptcy was a misguided suggestion from his lawyers.
He claimed the monthly financial haul for his ministry only "went down by a third for three months; the fourth month it stabilized, and the fifth month it started growing again" following the "The Tonight Show" segment.
"By the end of that year, we were back to where we were," Popoff told GQ, noting that his ministry never stopped doing live shows or broadcast television.
Reacting to a discussion of Popoff's mansion in that interview, Popoff's daughter, Amy Cardiff, who has two other siblings (brothers), noted that "It wasn't always like this."
"When I was born, we traveled in a trailer," she said.
Popoff's son Nick also suggested that living well is a requirement for the Gospel the family preaches.
"We are a prosperity ministry that preaches prosperity," he said. "We preach financial blessings. God has prospered us."
In 2019, the U.K. Office of Communications, also known as Ofcom, was fined a satellite television service provider more than $32,000 for airing a religious program featuring Popoff promoting his "miracle spring water" as a cure for cancer and other diseases.
In 2013, people who drank the holy water claimed in an infomercial that it rid them of debt. Popoff told GQ, however, that the water and other gifts he sends followers in exchange for donations aren't magical.
"There's nothing magical about them," he said. "They are simply points of contact — they help people focus their prayer. God decides what prayers to answer."
