From a $30.5 million price reduction to the sale of Michelangelo’s childhood home, there’s always news in the world of real estate. In this roundup, AD PRO has everything you need to know.
On the Market
Real Housewives of Miami’s Lea Black lists home on coveted Star Island for $37.5 million
A guest house, a 60-foot dock, a home theater, and a sauna: These are just a handful of the luxuries on offer at the seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom home that the former Real Housewives of Miami star Lea Black and her husband, attorney Roy Black, have just listed on the market. The couple is asking $37.5 million for the home that is Star Island’s only property with 180 feet of waterfront access. Inside, the home is defined by a dramatic spiral staircase and eye-catching marble tile flooring.
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When it comes to celebrity hotspots, Star Island is about as gossiped about as it gets in Miami. Shaquille O’Neal, Rick Ross, Jennifer Lopez, and more A-listers have reportedly owned property on the 86-acre island that has about 30 homes total. “The biggest thing about Star Island and why it became this exclusive single-family home community for the rich and famous is because of its privacy,” Miltiadis Kastanis, Douglas Elliman’s director of luxury sales told AD earlier this year. “And there’s no dry homes, meaning all of the homes are waterfront. On a typical island, across the street from your waterfront home, you’d have a smaller lot with a home on the dry side. But here it’s a perfect loop: You go in one way, out the other way.”
The property is currently the only home listed for sale on Star Island. The listing is held by Saddy Abaunza Delgado with One Sotheby’s International Realty and Elena and Stefano Iturriaga of London Real Estate Company.
Andrea Steele–designed town house hits the market for $22.5 million
In 2021, this Andrea Steele Architecture–designed town house won the coveted Award of Excellence from the Society of American Registered Architects for its distinctive approach to the town house typology. Now the 9,000-square-foot Manhattan property is on the market for $22.5 million. Crafted with luxurious materials and chock full of amenities, this Chelsea home is truly one of a kind.
No small feat for a town house, the minimalist interior is flooded with natural light, courtesy of the floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides of the structure and a 25-foot skylight on the entertaining level. Cleverly designed aluminum louvers on the front of the home allow for privacy for the street-facing rooms, and give the facade a distinctive appearance that sets it apart from the block’s other properties. A sauna, steam room, and a home gym are among the most attractive amenities, while the more practical features include laundry on four floors, a kitchen outfitted entirely with Gaggenau appliances, and a street-level garage fit to accommodate an SUV. In addition to the 9,000 square feet of interiors, there are 1,500 square feet of exterior room across two terraces.
The listing is held by Jonathan Hettinger and Mae Bagai of Sotheby’s International Realty.
George Washington once visited this $1.9 million Hudson Valley home
Snedens Landing, New York has long been known for its celebrity connection. Orson Welles owned a property there. So did Bill Murray, Uma Thurman, and even Björk. It turns out the high-profile connections go back even further: George Washington dined at this newly listed home back in 1780 during the Revolutionary War, and on another visit Martha Washington is said to have enjoyed tea at the property while waiting for George.
Known as the Meeting House and the Big House and referred to as the “neighborhood’s most historic” home by The New York Times, the structure dates back to 1738. “This home has amazing architectural details and can accommodate any interior look or style, from country chic to elegant Federal style,” listing agent Richard Ellis of Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty said of the home in a statement. The 5,500-square-foot home contains four bedrooms and four full baths, plus a library and a cathedral-ceiling-topped great room. Eighteenth-century cabinetry and paneling remains intact inside, as do five fireplaces, wide pinewood floor boards, and hand-hewn beams. The structure stands on 1.73 acres of land, and the adjoining lot that measures 2.7 acres can be purchased for $995,000.
Patrick Duffy’s Oregon ranch heads to auction
Dallas actor Patrick Duffy has held onto this Oregon ranch for 30 years, but now it’s time to let go for good. The actor first listed the home last year for $14 million, but rather than wait around for the right buyer, Duffy has opted to send it off to auction without a minimum reserve price, per Mansion Global. Duffy and his then wife purchased the 390-acre property together over decades, beginning with 130 acres for $1.5 million in 1990.
“Strolling through the forest, sitting on a log by the river, finding arrowheads in an old orchard, or scaring elk, deer, quail, or wild turkeys, we felt the land itself talking to us,” Duffy said in a statement. “It felt immediately like home.” Beyond the main house, the property includes a caretaker’s cottage turned guesthouse, a building with an indoor lap pool and hot tub, six other houses that were rented to tenants, and a home for the ranch manager. With so many acres and so few houses, much of the property remains untouched wilderness, including two miles of Rogue River frontage.
Bidding opened for the ranch online on December 7 and it will close on December 14 at Sotheby’s New York. Starting bids are reportedly expected to be between $3 million and $5 million.
Notable Sales
In Florence, Italy, Michelangelo’s childhood home sells
A true piece of art history, a property that is said to be the childhood home of 16th-century sculptor and painter Michelangelo has sold for 8 million euros (roughly $8.8 million USD), per Forbes. Reportedly constructed between the 14th and 15th centuries, the home is located in the hills of Settignano, a small village in the northeast of Florence. The villa measures roughly 9,700 square feet and sits on roughly 2.5 acres of land. Stone walkways and stairs spread across the property, which includes an orchard with producing olive trees. There are multiple covered seating areas, including upper balconies that provide views of the hills and the property itself, plus an internal tower that was once used as a guardhouse.
An original work by Michelangelo, a portion of a mural called Triton or Satyr, has been retained by the sellers in the deal. Building Heritage represented both the buyers and sellers.
Sales Launch
Continuum Club & Residences launch in Miami
Known for their projects across New York and South Florida, real estate development firm Continuum Company has announced their next structure, the Continuum Club & Residences in North Bay Village. Designed by Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica, with interiors by Durukan Design, the property will include 198 condominiums spread across 32 stories. Offering views of the Atlantic Ocean, Biscayne Bay, Indian Creek, and Downtown Miami, the property includes a lavish waterside pool surrounded by lush vegetation designed by landscape architecture team Martha Schwartz Partners.
Located between Downtown Miami and Miami Beach, North Bay Village is made up of the three small islands of Harbor, North Bay, and Treasure. Until recently, the 1950s was considered its prime, when it attracted Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, and other high-profile figures with its nightlife. In recent years, though, it has begun gaining traction again as a hot spot for development. “We see North Bay Village as we once saw South of Fifth, brimming with tremendous growth potential,” Ian Bruce Eichner, chairman and CEO of Continuum Company, said in a statement. “We’re excited to pioneer another neighborhood evolution.”
Sales and marketing for the Continuum Club & Residences are led by Douglas Elliman Development Marketing. It is set to break ground in winter of 2024.
News
$30.5 million is chopped off the price of Florida’s most expensive home
10 Tarpon Isle made headlines last year when it was listed for $218 million and took the spot of most expensive listing in the competitive Florida market. After seven months on the market, the listing was removed in June of 2023, and now it’s been relisted—only with $30.5 million shaved off. Now $187.5 million, the home, which sits on its own private island, is still the most expensive home for sale in Florida and even one of the priciest homes in the country, per Mansion Global.
Developer Todd Glaser and his partners purchased the property in 2021 for $85 million. Though three quarters of the compound is new, the original 1930s home was retained and stands as a guest pavilion and wellness facility. Spread across two acres of land, the property includes 28,600 square feet of interior space. Amenities include a hair and nail salon, steam room and sauna, a lighted tennis court, a five-car garage, two private docks, and a pair of pools.
According to reporting by Mansion Global, the dip in price reflects the property in its completed state, while the previous price reflected the ability of an earlier buyer to change or add to the plans prior to completion. If the compound sells at $187.5 million, it stands to break the current Florida residential sale record held by Larry Ellison’s $173 million purchase of a Manalapan property, as reported by The Real Deal. The listing is held by Suzanne Frisbie of the Corcoran Group and Chris Leavitt of Douglas Elliman.
