Former Town Council president Denis P. Coleman and his wife, Annabelle, are selling the Everglades Island house they bought this summer for $6.5 million at 608 Island Drive.
They took possession of it in July in a deal that coincided with the $19 million sale of their longtime — and much larger — custom home down the street at 662 Island Drive to retired private-equity honcho Jeffrey C. Walker.
They bought the smaller house with the intention to downsize, likely by razing and replacing it. But their plans have changed and they’re shopping for something else.
The Colemans bought the house from estate of the late jewelry designer Judy M. Grubman. Built in 1962, it has four bedrooms, 5,772 total square feet and stands immediately south of the Island Road bridge to Everglades Island. The lot measures about a half-acre with east views of the Lake Worth Lagoon and Palm Beach.
The Colemans’ real estate broker, Christian J. Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate, represented both sides when they bought the house. Angle has upped the price from its previous $7.375 million to just under $7.9 million, according to the Palm Beach Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. His listing bills the property as a “possible redevelopment opportunity.”
Corcoran Group agent Suzanne Frisbie, by the way, acted on behalf of Walker when he bought No. 662. Angle had the listing.
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In the Estate Section — Work is certainly progressing at the major renovation under way at Concha Marina, Ivana Trump’s former residence at 102 Jungle Road in the Estate Section. Trump bought the landmarked house on the ocean in 1994 after her famous split with now-presidential candidate Donald Trump. She made 14,400-square-foot house her own with a major renovation.
She sold it in July 2014 to fashion designer and Bottega Veneta’s creative director Tomas Maier for a recorded $16.6 million. That deal saw broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates on the seller’s side and Sotheby’s International Realty agent Jean Lembcke acting for Maier’s trust.
Architect Richard Sammons of Fairfax & Sammons designed the latest re-do, which includes refurbishing the landmarked exterior walls, the majority of which appear to have recently gotten new stucco. Among an extensive list of town-approved projects are a new roof, doors and windows, extensive interior renovations and the extension of an outdoor dining terrace. Contractor Jeff Wildes of Wildes Builders is in charge of the construction.
The Mediterranean-style house was designed by society architect Addison Mizner in 1921 but altered and enlarged over the decades by several noted architects, including Marion Sims Wyeth, Maurice Fatio, Henry Harding, John Volk, Byron Simonson and Jeffery Smith of Smith Architectural Group.
“It’s going to be a great project,” said Sammons, who serves on the town’s Architectural Commission. “We are taking it back to the image of Mizner’s original concept — what he might have done if he had designed the additions.”
The lesson of the current construction? Landmarked houses may have all the charm in the world, but that charm requires plenty of work to maintain.
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Under contract – With its distinctive blue tile roof, the North End house at 310 Mediterranean Road is a familiar landmark to boaters heading in and out of the inlet via the Intracoastal Waterway. Nestled on a gentle curve, the house has 163 feet of water frontage and a dock with a boat lift.
Retired businessman George J. Michel Jr. and his wife, Pauline, have owned the house, built in 1987, for nearly 25 years and have it homesteaded in the county’s tax rolls.
The property landed under contract at the tail end of August, according to Fite Shavell & Associates agent Thor M. Brown. He has the six-bedroom house with 9,186 total square feet priced at just under $13 million.
Brown’s MLS listing describes the property as a “boater’s paradise” and says the house could be renovated or could make room for something new. The latter scenario would surprise no one, considering that lakefront properties of more than a half-acre are prime indeed in the island’s inventory-tight market.
Agent Carole Hogan at Brown Harris Stevens is representing the as-yet-unidentified buyer. No word on when the sale will close or the amount to be paid.
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Noticed — Palm Beacher Craig I. Menin, who heads Menin Development on Royal Palm Way, has paid a recorded $17 million for a Delray Beach house facing the beach at 969 S. Ocean Blvd.
Menin, whose is married to Shelley Menin, bought the 14,235-square-foot house — with six bedrooms, two swimming pools and 1.4 acres — from a limited liability company with an address in Corona Del Mar, Calif. Corcoran Group listing agent Candace Friis represented the seller in the transaction recorded Sept. 3.
The Menins’ lakefront house at 900 N. Lake Way, meanwhile, has been listed at $37.45 million since mid-April. Corcoran agents Paulette Koch and Dana Koch, who have the listing, also represented Menin in the Delray deal.
Menin Development’s projects include Downtown at the Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens and a revitalization project under way in downtown Delray.