An Oceanfront Florida Mansion
The home has more than 100 feet of ocean frontage.
STATS: A 9,805-square-foot home with six bedrooms and seven full bathrooms and two half bathrooms, asking $9 million, or $912.79 a square foot. Property taxes in 2012 are $122,072. The price has been lowered from $10.5 million.
DETAILS: Built in 1994 and remodeled in 2007, this home has 100 feet of ocean frontage on a lot of more than an acre. The pool, spa and cabana sit oceanside and the owners planted a species of firm grass to make it a more pleasant walk from the pool area to the beach. "It's not squashy," says the husband of the grass surface. The house has vaulted ceilings, a home theater with suede walls and a master bedroom with a private terrace overlooking the water. An upstairs bedroom includes a fireplace and a "morning kitchen" with a sink, refrigerator and coffee maker.
NEIGHBORHOOD: It's about 20 minutes to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.
SELLERS: Stewart and Catherine Wiley. The Wileys are the retired founders of the Kingswood Group, which runs summer camps and outdoor-education programs in France and England.
WHAT WE PAID: The Wileys say they paid $7.5 million for the house in 2004 and put a million dollars into an 18-month remodeling.
WHY WE'RE SELLING: The Wileys plan to spend more time at their home in England which they say was once a Franciscan monastery built in 1347. They also have a home in Ireland (Mrs. Wiley is Irish) and an apartment in London near Harrods.
WHAT WE'LL MISS: The Wileys say they'll miss the tranquility and the friends they made here. Mrs. Wiley says she'll also miss the consignment shops in Palm Beach, particularly the Chanel hand-me-downs at Déjà Vu.
WHAT WE WON'T: The Wileys like their tea and say they won't miss that it takes a full five minutes for the kettle to boil because of the 110-volt electricity in the U.S. (In England, the electricity is 220-volt.)
COMPS: Nearby, a 5,700-square-foot waterfront house with five bedrooms and 5½ bathrooms is listed for $8 million.
OTHERS SAY: Nualagh Strugger of the Corcoran Group has seen the house and says the price is "really good" considering the location which offers privacy as well as easy access to shopping on Atlantic Avenue. She says the house has a unique feel to it: "It is a mansion on the ocean, but it doesn't have that cold feeling that a lot of them have." Candace Friis, also of the Corcoran Group, has the listing and says that the house stands out because of the size of the lot, the beach and finishes like the cypress ceilings.