Donald Trump’s former property is the second-biggest in Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County has been known for extravagant mansions just about since Henry Flagler’s first footsteps on the island that is now the town of Palm Beach. Some of the richest homeowners on earth hang their hats there, like real estate mogul Donald Trump, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer, author James Patterson, radio host Rush Limbaugh. Golfer Tiger Woods is still building his Jupiter Island mansion.
Of course, infamous Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, too, called Palm Beach home. Of all these boldfaced names, it’s Sydell Miller, the beauty products mogul, who owns the largest home in Palm Beach County, an 84,626-square-foot estate at 1415 Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach. She purchased the site for $4.9 million in 1995, and built the home. (See below for a list of the 10 largest homes in Palm Beach County).
“Palm Beach is unique,” said Jonathan Duerr, a realtor at Fite Shavell & Associates. “Obviously you’ve got a lot of old money here — beginning with the Flaglers. It’s hard to describe — some of these homes go up to the $200 million range, compounds that extend from the Intracoastal to the ocean.”
Six of the homes on the PropertyShark-created list are in Palm Beach proper, while two are in Lake Worth, one is in Boca Raton and the last is in Boynton Beach.
Duerr’s firm had the three largest sales in Palm Beach last year — $23 million, $18 million and $13 million, along with the recent sale of Patterson’s home.
Second in the list is no surprise; it is Trump’s former 81,738-square-foot property, which he purchased in 2004. It was once listed for $125 million and eventually sold in 2008 for $95 million to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. It is currently valued at $71.3 million on Zillow.com. The home is at 515 N County Rd. The house was originally built in 1990, and Trump oversaw its massive renovation and expansion.
Third on the list, also in Palm Beach, is the home of James Clark, the founder of internet company Netscape and who has been featured on the Forbes list of billionaires.
Clark purchased the home in 1999 for $11 million. It now has an appraised value of $52.83 million, with an assessed value of $40.6 million as of 2009, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. The annual tax payment to the county was $627,724 in 2009.
Duerr said finding buyers for these kinds of super-sized mansions takes a bit of luck, along with a personal touch or a personal connection on the notoriously close-knit island.
“It’s all about who you know and getting them at the right time,” Duerr said.
The largest home in Palm Beach County not on the six-mile island of Palm Beach is 6307 Ocean Boulevard in Boynton Beach, which is fifth on the list.
Also notable on the list is the home at 6011 Clint Moore Road in Boca Raton, which belongs to Red Sox owner and former Marlins owner John Henry. Compared the higher-ranked homes, Henry’s house is somewhat modest, with 39,429 square feet and five bedrooms. It was built in 1995, and has a current assessed value of $7.09 million, with an annual tax hit of $134,794. Story by Alexander Britell
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