Nancy Salzman’s House Sold to YouTube Star David Payette

Nancy Salzman, also known as Prefect, lived at 3 Oregon Trail in Halfmoon, NY, from 2005 – 2018. She won’t be coming back.

When she leaves Horizon House, a halfway house in Albany where she is serving the last year of her prison sentence for racketeering conspiracy, she will move to greener pastures.

David Payette standing outside his new residence in Waterford, NY

The home she lived at, at 3 Oregon Trail, was sold to nerd-favorite YouTube star David Payette of Payette Forward, with 1.39 million subscribers.

Payette is an expert on Apple and Android phones. Millions visit his channel for informative videos on how to manage those complicated handy tools most people carry around constantly. His most popular video to date has over 15 million views. 

Yes, Payette is the new owner of 3 Oregon Trail, and in place of hidden cash, chocolate-covered ginger snacks for Keith, and NXIVM-colored sashes, I envision iPhone 15s and Samsung Galaxy S23s strewn about the home.

But time moves in one direction, memories in the other. How many people in NXIVM visited Nancy Salzman there? Almost everyone in NXIVM was there at one time or another.

Keith Raniere and Allison Mack

Keith Raniere and Allison Mack at Nancy Salzman’s home filming ‘Keith Raniere conversations.’

3 Oregon was staged for the sale.

In the basement of 3 Oregon Trail with Nancy Salzman, Keith Raniere, Karen Unterreiner and Lauren Salzman, with Keith’s white board behind.

Bare walls stand starkly where Keith's profundity once exhilarated whiteboard.

Bare walls stand starkly where Keith’s profundity once exhilarated whiteboard.

Her Vanguard visited her often in the early morning after a long night of hard work teaching slender ladies whose hair was long, never cut, and never shaven. Nancy would make her prince 3-egg veggie omelets, which he would gobble down with extra hot sauce.

Inside the spacious four-bedroom, four-bath, 4000 sq ft home on 3.14 acres, Nancy kept a Steinway piano for the slippery stubby fingers of her much-admired leader, the smartest and most ethical man in the world.

Keith Raniere playing Moonlight Sonata on the Steinway piano Nancy bought for his use.

Keith Raniere performing what he claimed as ‘concert level’ piano for an audience in Nancy’s living room.

3 Oregon Trail sold for $715,000 on March 20, 2023. Payette lives there now.

Now, instead of coming here for an Exploration of Meaning, for advice, having an audience with the Vanguard, or filming NXIVM modules or testimonials in the studio, I see Payette broadcasting talking about 20+ Amazing Things You Didn’t Know Your iPhone Can Do.

Or… 

iPhone Won’t Send Pictures? How To Fix iPhone Photo Sending Problems!

iPhone Stuck In SOS Mode? Here’s The REAL Fix!

25 Hacks To Fix Android Battery Drain — #7 Is A Killer!

NEW Beats Studio Pro Review: Better On Android than iPhone?

But let us clutch a little longer onto the past. The NXIVM members held so many meetings there. The ‘Keith Raniere conversations’ were filmed there. It was, in many ways, the home of NXIVM with Nancy as the NXIVM “mother.”

Mark Vicente filming an episode of 'Keith Raniere Conversations.'

Mark Vicente filming an episode of ‘Keith Raniere Conversations.’

Clare Bronfman with her Vanguard in Nancy's kitchen...

Clare Bronfman with her Vanguard in Nancy’s kitchen…

But as time moves, people follow their destinies; all good things must end. People and places separate, never to come back. And so it goes with Nancy and her lovely home at 3 Oregon Trail.

Let us make it official:

FR received an email from Payette: 

Dear Frank,

I’m David Payette and I wanted to reach out after reading your recent article about Nancy moving to an Albany halfway house. I have no personal connection to NXIVM aside from the kind of fascination that comes from realizing a cult took root a few miles from the house you grew up in. The reason I’m writing, however, is to inform you that I’m the new owner of 3 Oregon Trail, where I’ve lived with my partner since March of this year. The details of the sale can be confirmed on Zillow, should you wish to do so.

In your article, you wrote, “Both the Prefect and the Vanguard lived on Oregon Trail. Nancy graced 3 Oregon Trail, and Keith immortalized 21 Oregon Trail, where he lived with Mariana and Pam Cafritz. Only Nancy will return.”

I thought it might be prudent to clarify that Nancy will not be returning to her former home. 

As a Clifton Park resident who had no knowledge of the events happening nearby, I’d like to thank you for your tireless and continued reporting on NXIVM through the years. 

Gratefully yours,

David Payette

Yes, to be sure, this makes it official. Nancy will not be returning to Oregon Trail. She’s been gone for a while. She left her home on Oregon Trail right after the FBI raided it on March 27, 2018, and seized $520,000 in cash hidden in various locations in the house.

The FBI raid Nancy Salzman's house at 3 Oregon Trail.

FBI raided 3 Oregon Trail on March 27, 2018 – one day after Keith Raniere’s arrest. Photo courtesy Albany Times Union

A stash of cash found at Nancy Salzman's house.

A stash of cash found at Nancy Salzman’s house.

Nancy went to live in a townhouse at 1 Brigantine Dr. in Waterford, NY, where the late Barbara Jeske used to live. Nancy lived there for three years while she was on house arrest before she went to prison.

Jeske’s townhome at 1 Brigantine was bought by another NXIVM shell company, NXIUM Properties LLC, in 2003. Perhaps Nancy will return to Brigantine when she is released. Maybe she has other plans.

But we were talking about the home Nancy is famous for living in — 3 Oregon Trail. 

It is not well known that Nancy never owned 3 Oregon Trail. Sara Bronfman owned it through one of her companies, Veinte-Seiz LLC, the same company which she used to own her private jet. 

Nancy Salzman with Sara Bronfman at V-Week 2017.

Nancy Salzman with Sara Bronfman at V-Week 2017….

Sara Bronfman paid $399,000 for the home on August 22, 2005. Sara added an addition for her Prefect in the back of the home spending about $100,000.

The photos you see on Zillow are different from how it looked when the Prefect adorned the home. NXIVM’s go-to realtor, Franca M. DiCrescenzo of Armida Rose Realty Group, did a lovely job staging the home, removing remnants and telltale signs of all that went on over 13 years of NXIVM life.

The FBI photos matched with the Realtor Photos.

Courtesy of the FBI

Courtesy of the FBI

Courtesy of the FBI

Where the piano once stood...

Where the piano once stood…

Formerly Nancy's office, where she performed countless EMs

Formerly Nancy’s office, where she performed countless EMs

Courtesy of the FBI

Formerly Nancy's spare bedroom, where Keith brought young women to bed

Formerly Nancy’s spare bedroom, where Keith brought young women to bed

Courtesy of the FBI

Formerly Nancy's bedroom

Formerly Nancy’s bedroom

Courtesy of the FBI

Courtesy of the FBI

The basement...

The basement…

Nancy's home basement gym, courtesy of the FBI

Nancy’s home basement gym, courtesy of the FBI

Nancy's home studio

Nancy’s home studio

Some of the cash that was found in Nancy Salzman's house.

More cash found in Nancy Salzman’s house.

Cash all laid out by denominations.

And more…

FBI took hard drives and other devices belonging to Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman. They found photos of Camila at age 15, they proved in court, on one of the hard drives,

FBI agents carry out some $520,000 in cash tucked away in nooks and crannies of Nancy’s home. Photo courtesy Albany Times Union.

David Payette standing in his, formerly Nancy's, kitchen.

David Payette standing in his, formerly Nancy’s, kitchen.

You can subscribe to Payette on his YouTube channel and learn things you never knew your phone could do.