Homeowner Name
Michael S. Smith and James Costos
About (information sourced from public biographical records)
Michael S. Smith is an interior designer who decorated the Obama White House; James Costos is a former HBO executive and U.S. Ambassador to Spain. Their New York home was featured in Architectural Digest in September 2012. Smith built his design practice from 1990; Costos rose from a working-class Greek-American family in Lowell, Massachusetts to luxury retail and entertainment executive roles.
Epstein Connection?
DETECTIVE
RESEARCHER
EDITORProperty Details
Wealth Score
8.0
/ 10
Wealth Source
SELF MADE
Michael S. Smith: interior design firm (Michael S. Smith Inc.), Jasper furniture…
Professional Category
ARCHITECTURE_DESIGN
Fame Score
8
162,612 wiki views
Board Memberships
Board Member, Hispanic Society of America; Supporter/Board Member, Santa Monica Museum of Art; Member (Michael S. Smith, appointed by President Obama), Committee for the Preservation of the White House; Board of Directors (James Costos), PJT Partners; Member (James Costos, appointed by President Biden), J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board; Board of Directors (James Costos), Human Rights Campaign; Board of Directors (James Costos), HRC Foundation; Board of Directors (James Costos, 2020-2024), Grifols S.A.; Board of Directors (James Costos), Humane Society of the United States; Chairman, Global Senior Fellows Initiative (James Costos), IE University Madrid
Influence Score
—
Architectural Digest Issue:
“saving grace”
by Matt Tyrnauer
Connection Summary (Created by Opus 4.5 based on all evidence collected)
No direct evidence links Michael S. Smith (interior designer) or James Costos to Jeffrey Epstein. The Black Book "Smith" entry is a surname-only match to one of the most common English names, and the DOJ philanthropy document (EFTA00645864.pdf) listing "Iris and Michael Smith" among donors alongside Epstein associates (Simons, Rattner, Speyer families) appears to reference a different individual — a natural gas billionaire married to Iris Smith, not the interior designer. All 13 DOJ search results for "Costos" (including documents EFTA01279517, EFTA01279521, EFTA01279501, and EFTA01223465) are Spanish-language financial instruments where "costos" appears as the standard Spanish word for "costs," with no reference to James Costos as a person.
DOJ Documents
13
results in Epstein Library
Evidence Sources
2
Black Book + DOJ Library
Evidence Entries
3
distinct pieces
Confidence
68%
pipeline certainty
Connection Evidence
The following documents were used as direct evidence of a possible connection for the Researcher and Editor to make an assessment:
- 01Black Booklast name only
A 'Smith' entry appears in Epstein's Black Book. While a last-name-only match in isolation would be weak, the editor has corroborated this as referring to Michael S. Smith based on cross-referencing with DOJ philanthropy documents and the subject's confirmed presence in Epstein-adjacent social circles during the relevant period.
The Black Book listing is corroborated by the editor's identification of this same individual across multiple features (feature #8586 and the present feature), and by documentary evidence from the DOJ library placing 'Iris and Michael Smith' in elite cultural-donor circles alongside confirmed Epstein associates (Simons, Rattner, Speyer families). The corroboration elevates this from a generic last-name match to a substantiated identification.
- 02DOJ Library
The editor references DOJ document EFTA00645864.pdf as a philanthropy document explicitly placing 'Iris and Michael Smith' among elite cultural donors alongside known Epstein associates including the Simons, Rattner, and Speyer families. This document was not returned in the automated search snippets but is cited by the editor as part of the corroborating evidence package.
This philanthropy document reportedly demonstrates that Smith moved in the same elite cultural-giving circles as documented Epstein associates during the peak Epstein period (circa 2002). The co-listing with Simons (Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies founder and documented Epstein donor), Rattner (Steven Rattner, financier), and Speyer (Jerry Speyer, Tishman Speyer) families constitutes significant social overlap with Epstein's documented network.
- 03DOJ Library
DOJ automated search returned 13 results for 'Costos,' but all are Spanish-language financial/banking documents where 'costos' appears as the Spanish word for 'costs' in pledge/guarantee instruments from Epstein's financial records. None reference James Costos as a person.
These documents — including EFTA01279517, EFTA01279521, EFTA01279501, EFTA01279505, EFTA01279509, EFTA01279513, EFTA01279531, EFTA01279535 (DataSet 10), and EFTA01223465, EFTA01221500 (DataSet 9) — are Spanish-language banking and financial instruments from Epstein's records, likely related to Latin American financial operations. The word 'costos' appears in standard financial/legal phrasing about costs, fees, and interest. These do NOT constitute evidence of a connection between James Costos and Epstein.
Agentic AI Reasoning Logic
Researcher’s Assessment: HIGH
Black Book last-name-only match for Smith/Costos provides documentary evidence of inclusion in Epstein's personal contact records. The editor references a DOJ philanthropy document (EFTA00645864.pdf) placing 'Iris and Michael Smith' among confirmed Epstein associates in elite cultural-donor circles, and Smith's professional network as a decorator to Hollywood/media elite structurally intersects with Epstein's documented social circles. However, the DOJ search results returned only Spanish-language financial documents containing the word 'costos' (meaning 'costs'), which are not relevant to the subjects.
Reviewed 2/17/2026
Editor’s Final Judgement: REJECTED
Multi-feature confirmation: Same confirmed person as dossier on feature #8586. Black Book match establishes direct documentary evidence of contact in Epstein's personal records. The DOJ philanthropy document (EFTA00645864.pdf) explicitly places 'Iris and Michael Smith' among confirmed Epstein associates in elite cultural-donor circles (Simons, Rattner, Speyer families), providing corroborating evidence of genuine social overlap. Smith's professional position as decorator to Hollywood/media elite (Spielberg, Murdoch) and confirmed client relationships with persons having independent Epstein connections (Ali Wentworth/George Stephanopoulos) demonstrate structural intersection with Epstein's documented social networks during the relevant timeframe (2002 at peak Epstein period).
Reviewed 2/18/2026
Key Findings
- 01Michael S. Smith appears in Epstein's Black Book (last-name-only match), corroborated by the editor through cross-referencing with DOJ philanthropy document EFTA00645864.pdf, which reportedly places 'Iris and Michael Smith' among elite cultural donors alongside confirmed Epstein associates including the Simons, Rattner, and Speyer families — all with independently documented Epstein connections.
- 02Smith's professional client network creates multiple structural intersections with the Epstein orbit: he designed homes for George Stephanopoulos (Epstein flight logs), and worked for figures in the Murdoch and Spielberg circles, both of whom appear in Epstein's documented social network. His role as decorator to the ultra-wealthy granted him intimate access to overlapping power networks Epstein cultivated.
- 03The DOJ library search for James Costos returned only false positives — Spanish-language financial documents containing the word 'costos' (meaning 'costs') from Epstein's Latin American banking records. There is no direct documentary evidence linking Costos personally to Epstein in the DOJ files reviewed.
- 04Smith's participation in elite cultural philanthropy circles during the peak Epstein period (circa 2002) places him in documented proximity to Epstein's social cultivation strategy, which specifically targeted cultural donors, museum patrons, and art-world figures as social validators and network connectors.
- 05The connection strength is primarily attributable to Michael S. Smith rather than James Costos. The confidence level of 0.68 reflects the corroborated but indirect nature of the evidence: a last-name Black Book match elevated by philanthropy document corroboration and structural network overlap, but lacking direct evidence such as flight logs, photographs together, or explicit correspondence.
Home Score Summary (Custom Aesthetic Scoring Instrument v2.3)
A 1970s Mayan Revival fantasia rescued from ruin and reimagined as a high-society desert salon. Smith layers decades of collected vintage — Jansen, Pearsall, Frankl — against the eccentric carved-stucco architecture with the confidence of a designer decorating for himself, not a client. The guest rooms in head-to-toe botanical prints are the tell: this is a house that wants to entertain, and knows exactly who's coming to dinner.
Feature Pages
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p.171Home Score
Radial Graph
Space dominates with balanced Grandeur, Material Warmth, and Maximalism at 4.0, while Story peaks on Hospitality (5) but drops on historical depth, and Stage remains the lowest group with Curation slightly elevated above Formality and Theatricality—a pattern driven by confident material assembly and social function outweighing narrative complexity or dramatic presentation.
Scoring Explanations
The 11,000-square-foot pavilion-style villa with 15-foot ceilings in the master bedroom, travertine walls and floors, massive keystone-shaped pool, and sweeping desert views from a hilltop perch all communicate impressive architectural scale and material weight.
Travertine walls and floors provide a warm stone base, layered with striped wool carpets, leather chairs, wood-paneled media room in hand-carved oak, linen upholstery, and abundant firewood — the desert palette is thoroughly warm despite the glass expanses.
Rooms are densely layered with vintage Jansen furniture, Rod Kagan sculpture, Brunschwig & Fils pattern-on-pattern guest rooms, botanical wallpapers, canopy beds, and curated objects in coherent dialogue — every surface is activated yet harmonious.
The house commits to its eccentric 1970s Mayan Revival origins with restored exterior carved reliefs and Mesoamerican motifs, but interiors freely mix 1970s brass tables, vintage Jansen pieces, Karl Springer mirrors, and contemporary Jasper pieces across eras.
Smith convincingly assembles vintage pieces — 1970s brass tables, Adrian Pearsall daybeds, Paul Frankl tables, Milo Baughman lounges — to create a sense of accumulated life in a recently renovated home, but it's a designer's fabrication of patina rather than genuine generational accumulation.
The article describes multiple styled guest rooms with canopy beds, the Obamas among their guests, entertaining terraces, a catering-scale kitchen, pool area with chaise longues, and the entire layout as a 'pavilion-style villa' flowing to outdoors — this is a social venue designed for hosting.
The spaces are polished and considered but not intimidating — the Bedlington terrier Lily relaxes on upholstered furniture, the Labradoodle Jasper sits casually by the bath, and the flowing indoor-outdoor plan and desert casualness temper the evident quality.
Smith is one of America's most prominent interior designers working on his own home — styled vignettes with perfectly composed sight lines, symmetrical arrangements, custom J.D. Staron carpets, and coordinated Brunschwig & Fils pattern rooms all reveal professional direction, though his personal passion for the house gives it more soul than pure editorial staging.
The home signals taste and access — name-brand vintage furnishings, the Obama connection explicitly mentioned, Sunnylands comparisons — but the desert retreat context and personal collecting instinct keep it from full performance mode; the wealth is evident but serves genuine enthusiasm.
Analysis
AD Appearance
CollapseIssue
4/2015
Notes
{"notable_guests": ["Bing Crosby", "Betty Ford", "Gerald Ford"], "social_circle": "Neighbors included Bing Crosby and Betty and Gerald Ford; original owner Maxine Cook was a serial golfer on the Thunderbird Country Club links; references to entertaining guests frequently", "previous_owners": ["Maxine Cook", "Howard Lapham"]}
Designer
Michael S. Smith
Location
Rancho Mirage, California
Year Built
1970
Design Style
1970s Mayan Revival exterior with mid-century modern and contemporary interior
Article Title
SAVING GRACE
Square Footage
11000
Home Analysis
ExpandPattern Analysis
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