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The Wall Street Journal

Takeover Vet's Palm Beach

By: Christina S.N. Lewis
Published: 1/11/2008Source: The Wall Street Journal

What: Midcentury waterfront house with seven bedrooms, 9.5 bathrooms, measuring 10,300 square feet on one acre

 

Where: Palm Beach, Fla.

 

Amenities: Media-room cottage, pool, spa, private generator, loggia, 156 feet of frontage on Intracoastal Waterway

 

Asking Price: $23.5 million

 

Annual Property Taxes: $179,000

 

Listing Agent: Paulette Koch and Dana Koch, of Corcoran Group, 561-227-4416; Paulette.Koch@corcoran.com

 

Due Diligence: Howard Gittis, the longtime business partner of takeover specialist Ronald Perelman, bought this home in 2001 for $9.95 million. Marion Sims Wyeth, one of Palm Beach's best-known architects, designed the two-story Georgian-style house in the 1950s. Mr. Gittis, who died in September at age 73 and was an owner of Palm Beach's Amici Ristorante & Bar, landscaped his home in a classical style, tiled the pool and added gardens, fountains, lighting and a dock with an electric lift that accommodates a boat of up to 30 feet. Inside, among other changes, he remodeled the five fireplaces, adding marble mantels purchased from London's period-fireplace specialist Chesney's. The master suite has a 240-square-foot balcony with a retractable awning. The property is near Mar-a-Lago, a private beach club owned by Donald Trump. Mr. Gittis's estate in New York's Hamptons was put on the market in November with a $59 million price tag.

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